Pakistan reports 5 polio cases in Fata

A total of five new cases of polio surfaced in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on Saturday, Pakistani health authorities have announced. A health department official confirmed the number of cases and said four of the cases were reported from North Waziristan Agency and one from South Waziristan Agency. Officials associated with the polio programme argue that the major reason for Pakistan's sorry state of affairs globally was the inability of the polio teams to vaccinate over 2,62,000 children in North and South Waziristan Agencies due to the ban on anti-polio immunisation by the Taliban and they linked it to the cessation of drone strikes. The detection of the five new cases has taken the total number of cases in the country to 91 during the year 2013 whereas the country reported 58 polio cases during the year 2012.