According to sources, Dr. Shahzad Baig was instructed to “quit” his position as head of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program because he was unable to stop the polio virus from spreading.
The current government was not “happy” with Shahzad Baig’s performance when he was assigned to lead the anti-polio program during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf administration.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has received Baig’s resignation letter.
Pakistan has so far documented three instances of poliovirus in 2024, and the virus has also been detected in 153 sewage samples.
The presence of poliovirus was confirmed by a study released yesterday by the National Polio Testing Laboratory based on sewage samples from five regions.
Sources claim that sewage samples from Kohat, Quetta, and Karachi had the virus. This year, sewage samples from 39 districts have shown positive poliovirus tests in 153 of them.
Five districts had the polio testing sample run from May 9 to May 15. According to sources, sewage samples from Machhar Colony and Rashid Minhas Road in Karachi East proved positive for poliovirus.
