Week 4 finds us in Pakistan. This nation has several cases of active polio. In Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the  confirmed cases are pushing  the total to 139 with 4 more new cases. An 8 yrs old boy was confirmed and died, and a 24 month old boy has been confirmed in an emergency operation centre. Two more cases of two boys under the age of 4 yrs.

This country has experienced political unrest which caused major problems for our medical teams. Last year four staff were killed and two policemen were injured trying to protect them. Recently the government of Pakistan has changed and is now supporting our efforts to vaccinate all children under the age of 5 yrs.  The coronavirus caused 80 million children to be missed. “We must ensure that we work with communities to protect vulnerable children with vaccine, while ensuring strict safety and hygiene measures to prevent any future spread of COVID 19” said Dr. Hamid  Jafari.

The pictures show the volunteers sanitizing their hand before greeting the children. They will use the ‘no touch method of immunization’. The child will be coached how they must hold their head back, swallow the two droplets at the correct time and wait before lowering their head. These women (below) will travel on bikes with cooler so the vaccine stay cool and  remains active.

Pakistan has great beauty in its historic sites , however we must travel with caution. The population is 212.2 million. Islamabad is the capital and is the home of a world famous zoo, monuments, romance and outdoor activities. It is famous for beautiful silk rugs made in traditional patterns by the same families for many generations.

Some day soon we hope Pakistan’s children will be polio free, they need our support!