- Two cases of polio confirmed
- 52 cases of probable poliomyelitis
ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: A Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report on Thursday said new cases of suspected AIDS, polio and probable poliomyelitis were reported at health offices in five districts out of 82 monitored in November last year.
FAFEN Governance Monitors visited 29 offices of Executive District Officer/Health (EDO/Health) in Punjab, 18 each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 14 in Balochistan. The office of the Agency Surgeon Health (ASH) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Health Management Information System (HMIS) in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) were also visited.
The report said out of the 17 cases of suspected AIDS, 10 were reported in district Sargodha and seven in district Gujrat. Two cases of polio were confirmed, one each in Karachi Central and Bahawalpur districts. In addition, 52 cases of probable poliomyelitis were reported in Gujrat. All cases of polio are considered probable cases until they are confirmed through isolation of the polio virus in cultures sent to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.
The report said Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) were the most commonly reported set of diseases, accounting for 51% of the total 2,238,733 diseases recorded at 82 health offices nationwide. Diarrhea and dysentery, paired together, and other diseases constituted 17% each, scabies accounted for 11% while gastroenteritis was the fifth most commonly reported, constituting 3% of the total reported diseases.
It said out of 1,457 cases of malaria reported in 12 districts, 80% were recorded in five districts in KP. More than half (806 cases) were reported in KP’s Bannu district, the highest among all monitored districts.
Eighty six cases of dengue were also reported; of which 80 were recorded by two health offices in Punjab – 73 in Gujrat and seven in Toba Tek Singh. Of the remaining six cases, four were reported in Balochistan’sZiarat district and two in district Haripur in KP.
The health offices across the country recorded 1,545 cases of infant mortality, 289 of child mortality and 95 maternal mortality cases.
The report said ARIs, diarrhea and dysentery, and scabies were the commonly reported diseases in 10 districts reporting diseases in the highest numbers, all except two of which were in Punjab. Except for 248 cases of tuberculosis in Gujranwala district, no other district on this list reported the disease.
Bahawalpur district recorded 14% (305,699 cases) of the total reported diseases in November, including a confirmed case of polio. Faisalabad district was the second most disease-affected with 162,227 cases being reported followed by Kasur, where 160,202 cases, were recorded.
About FAFEN: FAFEN is a network of 42 civil society organizations working to foster democratic accountabilities in Pakistan. It is governed by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability.
