Polio is disturbingly on the rise in Pakistan and health officials say the number of fresh polio infections in 2013 has already passed the total for the whole of 2012.

Opposition from militant groups has hampered efforts to vaccinate children against polio in Pakistan and officials said violence was part of the reason for the increase in cases.
"Last year there were a total of 58 cases, but 62 fresh victims of polio have already been reported in 2013," a senior government official, who works with international donors working to eradicate polio, told AFP.
Six cases were in eastern Punjab province, four in Sindh in the south and nine in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but by far the bulk of the infections -- 43 -- were in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
The Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan last year, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage.
"The main reason for the outbreak is militancy in the northwest. Vaccination teams are unable to reach the tribal areas because of risks to their lives," the official said.
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In August health officials warned of a serious polio outbreak in the northwest, saying more than 240,000 children had missed vaccination because of the Taliban ban.
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On Monday the World Health Organization linked an outbreak of polio in Syria that has paralysed 13 children to a strain of the virus from Pakistan.
Source-AFP