ISLAMABAD- Spokesperson Foreign Office Tasnim Aslam has said Pakistan wants to eradicate polio.
In a statement today, the spokesperson said Pakistan has raised the issue of travel ban with the authorities of World Health Organization (WHO). She said Pakistan has been striving hard to end polio and several steps on war footing are underway in this regard. Earlier, the WHO slapped travel restrictions on Pakistanis for authorities’ failure to control polio. Pakistanis will now have to show poliovirus inoculation certification and have to get anti-polio vaccination four week before they intend to travel abroad.
Restrictions came when WHO, after a recently held meeting, had said that following several days of closed-door discussions, it would decide whether to declare the new spread of polio a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)" that could require measures such as travel restrictions. WHO took firm decision over having severe concerns on latest polio cases emerged in Pakistan, majority from the country’s lawless tribal belt with Afghanistan border including Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Experts have discussed various options in four-day long Geneva Convention organised by WHO and imposed travel restriction in the light of new guidelines by the international organisation.