’Country to become polio-free state soon’

LAHORE: Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Co-ordination Saira Afzal Tarar on Saturday said owing to strong political will and commitment at the highest level, Pakistan's profile in eradication of the disease is improving significantly.

"The government has devised a strategy for eradication of polio that should be strictly followed. The role of provinces is important in this respect," she said while addressing a meeting with District Coordination Officers (DCOs) on eradication of Polio.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Javed Aslam, Secretary Health Hassan Iqbal, Secretary Local Government Jawwad Rafiq, Secretary Industries, Secretary Information Punjab and Secretary Home.

Saira Afzal Tarar expressed the hope that Pakistan would soon be a polio-free member state.

The Minister was given a holistic briefing about the ongoing polio eradication campaign in Punjab province. She was presented with statistics of vaccinated and unvaccinated cases in different districts.

The Minister appreciated the steps taken by the government of Pakistan in eradication of polio from the country, observing that Pakistan was making encouraging progress with regard to polio eradication as the number of new cases had been reduced.

She was briefed that in every campaign, the polio vaccination teams targeted 33.4 million children less than five years of age and there was a 65 percent decrease in the polio cases in comparison to last year.

Saira Afzal Tarar directed the Secretary Health and the concerned District Coordination Officers to provide the facilities to basic health units (BHUs), make timely payment of salary to health workers and the strict maintaining of cold chain and use of expired vaccines. She also ordered for taking disciplinary action against those polio staff members who were indolent and responsible for mismanagement in service delivery.

Saira Afzal also made an appeal to the Ulema, media and other schools of thought to create awareness among the general public regarding the disease of polio, as it was the moral obligation of parents to save their children from the polio. She expressed satisfaction over the continuation of polio eradication campaign and serious efforts taken by all provinces in eradication of polio.