Pakistan registers another polio case; tally of infections rises to 6
Islamabad: Pakistan registered another polio case, taking the tally of infections to six this year as the country's effort to eradicate the crippling disease from its soil suffered a setback.
A nine-month-old girl child hailing from the Orakzai district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest province was detected with the virus and paralysed, according to a report by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
This is the fourth polio case detected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Another two had been found in Sindh province. Last year, 20 polio cases were reported in the country. However, 2021 fared better as only one polio case was detected in the country, according to the data shared by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program.
Federal Minister for Health Dr Nadeem Jan was dismayed at the sordid development of a fresh polio case. "I am deeply saddened that this virus has robbed yet another child of the opportunity to live a healthy life and to live up to its potential," he said in a statement.
He urged parents and caregivers across the country to understand the risk to children and never say no to the polio vaccine which can help prevent lifelong disability and save lives.
"This is a stark reminder that until we eradicate this virus, this disease will continue to remain a persistent threat, not just to our children but children across the world," he said.
Separately, 20 environmental samples collected from 12 districts have tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1, reported the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the NIH, highlighting the prevalence of the threat of the virus.
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
