VOA健康报道2024--Polio Rises in Pakistan Ahead of a New Vaccination Campaign

In Pakistan, polio cases are rising ahead of a new vaccination¹ campaign. Violence targeting health workers has also hurt years of efforts toward making the country polio-free.

The World Health Organization says polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. The disease largely affects children under age five. The virus is transmitted from person to person and spread mainly through contact. It invades the nervous system and causes a person to be unable to move arms, legs or muscles, a condition called paralysis². Among those paralyzed, up to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

Since January, health officials have confirmed 39 new polio cases in Pakistan, compared to only six last year, said Anwarul Haq. He is with the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication³. Eradication means getting rid of something completely.

The new nationwide campaign starts on October 28. The campaign aims to vaccinate⁴ at least 32 million children.

"The whole purpose of these campaigns is to achieve the target of making Pakistan a polio-free state," Haq said.

Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to protect them.

Militants⁵ falsely claim that the vaccination campaigns are a Western attempt to sterilize⁶ children. To sterilize means to make someone unable to produce children.

Most of the new polio cases were reported in the southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh provinces. The next two areas with the most cases are Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eastern Punjab.

The locations worry officials since previous cases were from the northwest areas bordering Afghanistan. In September, this is where the Taliban government suddenly stopped a house-to-house vaccination campaign.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries in which the spread of the possibly deadly, paralyzing disease has never been eradicated⁷. Officials in Pakistan have said that the Taliban's decision will have major effects beyond the Afghan border. People from both sides frequently travel to each other's country.

The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year. All but two of these cases were in the south of the country. That number is up from six cases in 2023.

In June, Afghanistan started a house-to-house vaccination campaign for the first time in five years. The campaign has helped to reach the majority of children targeted, officials at the WHO said.

Health officials in Pakistan say they want both sides to hold anti-polio campaigns at the same time.

Words in This Story

transmit - v. to transfer from one person or place to another

immobile - adj. incapable⁸ of being moved

province - n. an administrative⁹ district or division of a country

location - n. a place fit for or having some particular use

1 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

2 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

3 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

4 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 sterilize   

vt.使不结果实；使绝育；使无效；杀菌，消毒

参考例句：

• Antiseptic is used to sterilize the skin before giving an injection.杀菌剂被用于在注射前给皮肤消毒。
• He pricks the blister on his heel with a sterilize needle.他用一根消过毒的针扎破他脚后跟上的水泡。

7 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

8 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

9 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。