Mission of polio eradication in Pakistan- a review on challenges and future recommendations

Abstract

Poliomyelitis, commonly known as “polio” is a paralytic and perilous disease caused by the poliovirus. Due to its highly contagious nature, the virus was a challenge to the world in the late 1980s. Since 1988, the collective work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and World Health Organization (WHO) through immunizations, communication awareness, and monitoring have helped the world exonerate polio. This article aims to review on challenges and future recommendations for polio eradication in Pakistan.

The mission of polio-free Pakistan was Herculean. It confronted enormous challenges in different ways but came out with positive results. In 2019, with only two remaining polio-endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, GPEI launched an “Endgame strategy 2019–2023,” aiming to eradicate polio globally, focusing on polio-endemic countries. The plan emphasizes the early detection of polio cases for complete eradication and to restrict the spread of polio. Pakistan has achieved a milestone in combating polio despite having a web of factors that have thwarted Pakistan's polio eradication efforts, but this is not the end. The struggle continues until we get an internationally verified certification of a polio-free nation; WHO has designed a multidisciplinary strategy for 2022–2026 to end this polio.