Pakistan

Egypt makes polio certificate mandatory for Pakistan

Published

10 months ago

Farwa

Egyptian authorities say OPV or IPV both certificates are acceptable.
WHO highlighted gaps in Pakistan, Afghanistan’s efforts to eliminate polio.
Environmental samples underscore risk of polio outbreak in Pakistan.

KARACHI: The Egyptian authorities have made it mandatory for travelers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries to provide a polio vaccination certificate.

“As informed by the Egyptian Authorities, passengers travelling to Egypt from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malawi, Mozambique and Congo are requested to provide an international certificate of vaccination specifically polio vaccine, OPV or IPV (both are acceptable),” Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in an advisory on its website on Monday.

It added that foreigners who have stayed more than four weeks in the above-mentioned countries are also required to provide polio vaccination in order to travel to Egypt.

Last month, the International Health Regulations’ (2005) Emergency Committee, responsible for assessing global poliovirus spread, expressed concerns over Pakistan’s efforts to reach a large number of children through its polio eradication campaign.

In a session convened by the World Health Organisation (WHO) director general on August 16, 2023, the committee 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 WPV1 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. Throughout the year, at least 15 environmental surveillance-positive samples were identified.

“Although the action plan in southern KP has resulted in 160,000 more children being vaccinated, the context remains challenging — including political instability, insecurity in some areas with front-line workers requiring police patrols to accompany them and vaccination boycotts, where communities make demands for other services in exchange for allowing polio vaccination,” the committee further said.

Commenting on the emergency committee’s statement, Pakistan’s caretaker health minister Dr Nadeem Jan told The News that boosting routine immunisation and coverage of zero dose via outreach campaigns would help in polio eradication efforts in the country.

In Afghanistan, since the last meeting, there have been five new WPV1 cases reported, all from Nangarhar province, the emergency committee said adding that the cases occurred in five different districts and had onsets from April to May 2023.

“Any setback in Afghanistan poses a risk to the programme in Pakistan due to high population movement,” the emergency committee warned.

The committee further observed that in 2023, there were only two genetic clusters of WPV1 identified, compared to three in 2022 and five in 2021.

Latest News

Rainfall throughout the night stops flights in Lahore.

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

Allama Iqbal International Airport experienced many hours of flight disruption due to the intense rainfall and windstorms that occurred overnight in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab.

Aviation sources claim that because of the monsoon weather, the flight operation was unable to operate between 3 and 4 am.

It is possible that the planes will arrive at the airport at 4 am.

Amidst delays in foreign airline flights, three aircraft made landings in Multan and Peshawar.

Riyadh flights arrived in Peshawar Airport, while flights scheduled to land in Lahore in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain ended up landing in Multan Airport.

Seven hours later than scheduled, the Qatar Airways flight from Doha arrived in Lahore.

Because of the bad weather, there are delays in the arrival and departure of numerous international planes.

Latest News

Changes to Pakistan’s Test team could be significant for the Bangladesh series.

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

Major changes to Pakistan’s team are anticipated ahead of the forthcoming Test series against Bangladesh, sources in Lahore have revealed.

As the team gets ready for the series, meetings with the players are planned for next week.

It is predicted that the Test squad would undergo several changes. The team’s lineup is expected to be strengthened by the likely inclusion of Muhammad Huraira. Key players like Faheem Ashraf, Wasim Jr., Saim Ayub, and Nauman Ali, whose contributions are vital to the team’s success, struggle to get a spot on the squad.

Furthermore, according to sources, Imamul Haq or Sahibzada Farhan are anticipated to be added to the team, subject to additional assessment. Furthermore, following a fitness assessment, Amir Jamal and Hasan Ali’s futures will be determined.

The ultimate selection for the Test team will take place following Red Ball head coach Jason Gillespie’s return to Pakistan. The ultimate squad that will play Bangladesh in the forthcoming Test series will be greatly influenced by his assessments and thoughts.

Pakistan is scheduled to visit New Zealand in March and April of 2025, according to the country’s official cricket schedule, which was released earlier this month.

Throughout their visit, the Pakistan cricket team will play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in an exciting series.

The T20I series, which starts at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on March 16, will serve as the tour’s opening event.

Latest News

PM Meets With KP Lawmakers: Promises Progression and Relief Efforts in Province

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhawa lawmakers are given assurances by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the province’s development, namely in the amalgamated districts, with a particular emphasis on the provision of standard health and educational facilities.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National and Provincial Assembly members paid a visit to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at PM House.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister stated that the PML-N Government has always given priority to the development of the combined districts.

The prime minister promised that the combined Districts would have standard health and educational facilities, and that Danish Schools would be established nearby to offer local pupils an education of the highest caliber possible.

The PM also underlined the importance of promoting solar energy, combating electricity theft, and helping the middle class and impoverished.

He said that in order to boost the agriculture sector’s growth, expand the amount of land under cultivation, and reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign fuel imports, the government was converting agricultural tubewells to solar energy nationwide.

According to PM Shehbaz Sharif, the government recently provided significant reduction from electricity rates for those with low and moderate incomes.

At the event, he also announced the creation of a committee headed by the deputy prime minister, whose goal will be to identify long-term solutions to the issues facing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s elected officials.

He argued that in order to preserve the nation from going into default, the current government had to make difficult political choices in order to revitalize the economy.

The parliamentarians gave Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif high marks for his visionary leadership in transforming Pakistan’s economy.