Lyon, France: The large cases of polio virus in Pakistan pose a threat to its neighbours such as India, the world's leading polio vaccine manufacturers has warned.
Sanofi Pastuer, headquartered at the French city of Lyon, hailed India's milestone as a polio-free country but warned that the control remains fragile until the region can meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of a polio-free world by 2018.
"The situation in Pakistan is of concern and the situation seems to have deteriorated. The political unrest in the region makes vaccination extremely difficult and under the circumstances the WHO's eradication target of 2018 will be difficult to meet," Emmanuel Vidor, Global Medical Expert at Sanofi Pasteur, told reporters during a tour of the company's hi-tech vaccine manufacturing facilities here.
WHO in May advised Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon to put in place emergency travel measures as they pose the greatest risk of exporting the virus and undermining a UN plan to eradicate polio by 2018.
India was among the biggest four remaining polio endemic countries but in February this year it marked three years without a case of polio.
"India's is a big achievement and we must collectively build on it. The key is combined administration of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and eventually moving to an IPV only regime under the WHO guidelines," Vidor said.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic but efforts to stamp out the crippling disease have been hit by repeated attacks on health teams, derailing the polio vaccination campaign.
This year, Pakistan has reported 84 polio cases. According to the World Health Organisation, 80,000 children in Pakistan have not been immunised against polio. For many years, the Taliban and some hardliner clerics had been claiming that polio vaccination was a conspiracy to suppress Muslim population growth.
Sanofi Pasteur was among the key suppliers of the vaccines that helped India achieve that target of a polio-free country.
"Our vision is that no one should suffer or die of a vaccine preventable disease. We are the main supplier of OPV for Unicef and have taken effective steps to scale up the production of IPV in support of the WHO's worldwide polio eradication programme," explained Sanofi Pasteur global communications chief Julien Guyomard.
Sanofi Pastuer, headquartered at the French city of Lyon, hailed India's milestone as a polio-free country but warned that the control remains fragile until the region can meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of a polio-free world by 2018.
"The situation in Pakistan is of concern and the situation seems to have deteriorated. The political unrest in the region makes vaccination extremely difficult and under the circumstances the WHO's eradication target of 2018 will be difficult to meet," Emmanuel Vidor, Global Medical Expert at Sanofi Pasteur, told reporters during a tour of the company's hi-tech vaccine manufacturing facilities here.
India was among the biggest four remaining polio endemic countries but in February this year it marked three years without a case of polio.
Advertisement
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic but efforts to stamp out the crippling disease have been hit by repeated attacks on health teams, derailing the polio vaccination campaign.
Advertisement
Sanofi Pasteur was among the key suppliers of the vaccines that helped India achieve that target of a polio-free country.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Rohit Sharma Rocks Mumbai Streets In His Swanky Car, Don't Miss Number Plate Connection "Mastered That Skill": Ex-India Coach On Suryakumar Yadav Becoming T20I Captain 'Hardik Pandya Has Got Much More Talent Than Ben Stokes': Ex-New Zealand Star 3 Students Dead After Flooding In Delhi Coaching Centre Basement At Olympics Opening Ceremony, Drag Parody Of 'The Last Supper' Draws Flak Teen Rapes, Kills Sister After Watching Porn, Family Helps In Cover-Up "Murder": BJP Blames Delhi Government For Death Of 3 Students After Flooding CAT 2024: Registration Begins On August 1, Exam On November 24 Astrologer Who Correctly Predicted Biden Exit, Now 'Names' Next US President Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.