WHO extends travel restriction on Pakistan amid polio outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) has imposed travel restrictions to Pakistan for an additional three months, owing to persistent worry about polio outbreaks within the nation.

It has come after an evaluative process regarding the spread of international polio and the WHO Emergency Committee‘s sentiment on Pakistan’s response to the polio virus.

While some improvements have been made, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the most serious threats to international polio eradication as both countries have been confirmed as having transmitted poliovirus internationally.

The WHO has articulated worry about the troubling increase of polio-positive environmental samples in Pakistan, which has reportedly increased twelve times between 2023 and 2024 since reporting 628 polio-positive environmental samples in the nation with districts newly affected by wild poliovirus.

The key provinces affected including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, are struggling with the YB3A4A B-cluster of polio.

Majorities of cities such as Quetta, Peshawar, and Karachi have become major centers for wild poliovirus type  (WPV1), which is reportedly spreading into areas central of the nation and more southern into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

While the WHO acknowledges Pakistan’s anti-polio initiations and campaign quality, Pakistan can still improve the situation reported at provincial and district levels.

In response to this, the WHO suggests using various techniques including  Improved Vaccination: Increase vaccination at Pakistan Afghanistan border crossings- Bilateral Cooperation: Enhanced cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan to stop cross-border transmission- Concurrent Anti-Polio Campaigns: Joint campaigns in border areas of both Pakistan and Afghanistan to limit the spread of WPV1