ISLAMABAD: The total tally of polio cases in Pakistan this year has reached 111 with seven new cases reported recently from various parts of the country, officials said. Pakistan is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio is still endemic.
According to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, of the seven new polio cases reported on Wednesday, four were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two from Balochistan and one from Sindh province.
The number of people affected by polio this year has now reached 111, officials said.
Within the Sindh province, Karachi has witnessed the highest number of six polio cases this year, they said.
Pakistan has been fighting to combat polio since 1994. However, attempts to eradicate the crippling disease have been seriously hampered by deadly targeting of vaccination teams in recent years by militants, who oppose the drives, claiming that the polio drops cause infertility.
Attacks on immunisation teams have claimed 68 lives since December 2012. PTI
