World Health Organisation reimposes travel restrictions on Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: Emphasising persistent risk of a polio outbreak in Pakistan, the World Health Organisation (WHO) extended travel restrictions on the country for another three months.
The decision was taken during a session of International Health Regulations’ (2005) Emergency Committee – responsible for assessing global poliovirus spread – convened by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The committee expressed concerns over Pakistan’s efforts to reach a large number of children through its polio eradication campaign. It also highlighted the gaps in Pakistan and Afghanistan’s efforts to eliminate polio.
It emphasised that recent favorable environmental samples from Peshawar and Karachi underscore the persistent risk of a polio outbreak in Pakistan.
The committee highlighted that a new case of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WP1) emerged in Pakistan since the last meeting, bringing the 2023 total to two cases. Both instances occurred in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
