Saudi Arabia mandates polio vaccination certificates for travelers from Pakistan

JEDDAH: In a recent development, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced that travelers from 25 countries, including Pakistan, must have a polio vaccination certificate upon arrival.

This ruling by the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia aims to maintain public health measures and hinder the reintroduction of polio. According to the new regulation, travelers must produce evidence that at least four weeks before arriving in Saudi Arabia, they have been vaccinated against polio.

This measure is part of a broader national strategy to preclude the resurgence of polio, a highly contagious viral infection that predominantly afflicts children and has the potential to cause paralysis.

The countries affected by the new regulation include those with past and current polio transmission records. Pakistan, in particular, has experienced polio outbreaks in the last several years and is one of the few countries where polio has not been eradicated.

Pakistan has been tagged, along with Afghanistan, by WHO as one of the last few remaining countries still holding out against polio. The governments in the neighboring states have been left grappling with the virus due to various factors, including extremist groups targeting and killing polio vaccine workers, public ignorance, and misinformation.

The ongoing virus also finds refuge with undocumented Afghan refugees within Pakistan, aggravated by political instability in Afghanistan.

In 1988, global efforts to rid the world of the dreaded disease were launched through the “Global Polio Eradication Initiative.” The polio vaccine has aided in drastically reducing the number of polio cases worldwide; thus, it has to be administered continuously to keep the disease at bay.