Dr. Shahzad Baig, the director of the polio program, told Dawn that with the assistance of several donor agencies, the capability of identifying environmental samples has risen from 70 samples per month to 114 samples per month.
"Since our lab was expanded, it has risen to the top of all laboratories in the world and will be extremely helpful even after the virus that causes debilitating sickness has been eradicated. It is the only polio laboratory in the Eastern Mediterranean area. This year, Pakistan has recorded just one incidence of polio, compared to Afghanistan's four instances, the expert added. According to a representative of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), the lab's facility was built in 1980, and testing on environmental samples began there in 2009.
"At first, we tested two samples each month, one from Lahore and one from Karachi, but as time went on, the number of samples increased," he stated.
In Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the Pakistan Polio Lab's capacity has been increased by double. As one of the 16 regional reference labs, it is also regarded as such.
According to the source, since 2013, Pakistan has been analyzing environmental samples from Afghanistan, evaluating 37 samples every month.
In response to a query, he stated that it was decided to analyze Yemen's environmental samples in Pakistan due to the security situation in Yemen. As a result, every two months, Pakistan evaluated about 14 Yemeni samples.
The lab began operations in 1994 to monitor viruses, according to Mr. Patel, the minister of health, and as time went on, real-time monitoring was added.
One of the 16 regional reference labs in the globe, according to the lab. I think the polio virus will soon be gone from Pakistan," he continued.
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