Having witnessed two cases of polio in the span of last four months, World Health Organisation (WHO) has now extended its travels restrictions for Pakistan asking the diplomatic missions of other nations in the country to obtain vaccination certificates before granting the country’s visa.

This decision was undertaken after the meeting of International Health Regulations which was conducted on May 12th. According to the WHO’s website, in the meeting, the steps taken by Pakistan to curb the spread of Poliovirus were reviewed.

According to the sources, in the meeting, it was discussed that internationally there has been a steady decline in the spread of poliovirus. In fact, there has been almost no spread in the disease worldwide in 2015 and 2016 with just the exception of countries Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan is still fighting to combat this disease, especially in its Northern Areas. According to the new analysis of generic data, Pakistan has apparently exported two cases of polio into Afghanistan, in October 2015 and again in February 2016.

It further adds that the new virus reported in Kunar province was closely related to Pakistan viruses circulating at least since June 2014 in the Khyber-Peshawar whereas the new Afghan virus in Nangarhar was closely related to the viruses circulating during 2015 in the K-P. According to the representative of WHO, “While there has been no new exportation from Afghanistan to Pakistan, ongoing transmission, particularly in inaccessible parts of the Eastern Region of Afghanistan close to the international border, presents an ongoing risk.”