Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994 TAG: 9404110161
SECTION: NATL/INT PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GENEVA LENGTH: Short
The Geneva-based World Health Organization said a large outbreak of poliomyelitis in Pakistan in 1993 ran counter to the "almost universal decline" in the disease. Pakistan recorded 1,803 cases, up from 1,046 in 1992.
WHO is campaigning to eliminate the disease through a vaccination program by 2000.
A record 141 countries registered no new cases during 1993, a WHO statement said. For the year, 7,898 cases were registered in 46 countries. In 1992, the total was 15,911 in 58 countries.
The last time a case of paralytic polio was registered in the Western Hemisphere was Aug.25, 1991, in Peru, said Dr. Nicholas Ward, head of WHO's anti-polio program.
Dr. Jong Wook Lee of WHO said cooperation with UNICEF and support for the vaccination program from Rotary International were keeping the campaign on target.
WHO said China had made major inroads against the disease through vaccinations. An estimated 100 million children under the age of 4 were vaccinated in December, followed by a second dose in January.
"That was the largest number of children ever immunized against a disease anywhere in the world," a WHO statement said.
by CNB