Pakistan tells global watchdog polio eradication is within reach, insecurity in KP remains biggest hurdle

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday told the global Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) that the country has entered a decisive phase in its decades-long fight against polio, claiming the virus has been pushed into a shrinking number of high-risk areas but cautioned that persistent insecurity in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the biggest obstacle to reaching every child. The IMB — an independent oversight body of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative — met from July 20 to 23 to assess global eradication efforts, with a particular focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan, the world’s only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic. During a high-level review meeting of the IMB in Geneva,…