ISLAMABAD-
World Health Organization says three more polio cases have surfaced in Pakistan, bringing the number of those affected by the crippling disease in the country this year to 220.
The statement came as many nations observed World Polio Day on Friday to create awareness about polio. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries where polio remains endemic. The highly contagious virus is transmitted in unsanitary conditions but is easily fended off with a vaccine.
Dr. Elias Durry, who heads WHO’s polio eradication efforts in Pakistan, says most of the cases were detected in the county’s northwest, where Pakistani Taliban have banned immunizations and attacked polio vaccination teams in recent years.
In Islamabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged the government would provide resources to battle the disease.
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