WHO warns of increasing Polio risk in Afghanistan amid repatriation of migrants from Pakistan

The World Health Organization has announced that the repatriation of migrants from Pakistan has heightened the risk of spreading the polio virus or poliomyelitis in Afghanistan amid a wave of returning migrants from Pakistan.

Only 12 children around the world have been paralyzed by wild poliovirus so far this year, all of them in Pakistan and Afghanistan — with six reported in each. They are the last two countries in which the highly infectious disease still exists, WHO confirms.

Moreover, the World Health Organization has warned that the countries’ vaccination programs continue to miss a large number of children, posing a significant risk to gains made against the crippling wild Type 1 poliovirus.

In addition, Pakistan’s campaign to repatriate undocumented Afghans has increased the risk of cross-border poliovirus spread and spread within the two countries, the WHO said in its statement Friday.

Meanwhile, the Emergency Committee for Polio Eradication has announced the activation of an emergency plan for the eradication of polio in Afghanistan.