Pakistan exporting Polio into Polio free India

Jaisalmer. The World Health Organization has officially declared India a polio-free nation, the threat of its reoccurrence is looming large over the country and apparently from its neighborhood. The peoples traveling from Pakistan to India via Munabao station by Thar Link Express train import the dreaded disease.

The Thar Express connects Karachi in Pakistan to Jodhpur and passes through Barmer. It arrives at Bhagat Ki Kothi station near Jodhpur every Friday and returns to Khokhrapar in Pakistan every Sunday.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Barmer Dr. Phusaa Ram Vishnoi said that the borders district Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur are at risk of polio virus entering India through passengers coming from Pakistan, the health ministry has declared these districts as high risk areas.

Vishnoi said that every Saturday, our team is deployed at the Munabao railway station as it is the last station on the Indian side from where the Thar Express crosses into Pakistan every week. With the possibility of fake polio certificates being carried by Pakistani citizens arriving in India, our teams at Munabao railway station are scrutinizing the certificates carefully. Although, no such case has come to light, but at the Munabao station, it is being investigated.

Jaisalmer Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Nenaa Ram Nayak said that large number of Pakistani nationals visit these three districts. Jaisalmer is also a high risk district because of the movement of people from across the border. The threat of the virus making its way into the Indian Territory is quite high. We are already administering polio drops to people who go to or come from Pakistan to Jaisalmer, irrespective of their age, as is mandated by the Centre for all international borders. The team comprises a doctor, a nurse and a technical person. We want to ensure that polio does not come into the Indian side.

Jodhpur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Narendra Saxena said that Rajasthan government will launch an immunization drive next month in Jodhpur and Barmer districts, where a high-alert has been sounded following a threat of recurrence of Polio through virus-carrying passengers of Thar Express coming from Pakistan. The Central government has identified Jodhpur and Barmer as high risk areas in the wake of an alarming rise in polio cases in Pakistan. To thwart this threat, we would launch a polio immunization drive in these two districts on November 16.