The World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine for monkeypox prevention will be purchased by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.

The new development comes after two people who had just returned from Saudi Arabia were discovered to have the illness, according to a national newspaper.

It was decided to ask the WHO for a sizable quantity of the monkeypox vaccination during a National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting on Wednesday to discuss the monkeypox situation in the nation.

Healthcare professionals and infectious disease specialists who would be on the front lines of dealing with confirmed and suspected infectious illness cases would receive the vaccine.

Two people who landed in Islamabad on April 17, 2023, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were later discovered to have Mpox (monkeypox), which raised the alert level for medical facilities across Pakistan.

To handle any suspected cases of the disease, isolation wards and filtration clinics were set up in the nation’s major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar.

The issue of cases of monkeypox was thoroughly reviewed at the NCOC meeting on Wednesday at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, where it was determined that a formal request would be made to the WHO for the distribution of the monkeypox vaccine.

The official went on to say that although there is presently no vaccination for monkeypox, it is crucial to have one now that cases have been found in the nation so that specialists and others at risk can be protected.

The official stated that as of April 25th, 2023, 110 member states from all 6 WHO regions had reported a total of 87,113 laboratory-confirmed illnesses and 130 deaths to the WHO.

The official detailed the monkeypox instances that had been reported in the nation. On April 17, 2023, a very unwell person who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia for overstaying arrived in Islamabad with a high temperature, rashes, headache, muscle aches, and a sore throat.

Airports all throughout the nation have been placed on high alert as a result of the discovery of two cases of monkeypox, and airlines have been urged to report any suspected cases to the border health services division at the airports.

To accommodate suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox, the provincial health ministries have begun setting up isolation units at significant medical facilities in their provincial capitals.