F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, M. Azam Khan has stressed upon the deputy commissioners to ensure highest quality of polio campaigns in their respective districts with special focus on mobile population coming from Afghanistan and other districts.
He was chairing the meeting of the Provincial Task Force meeting held here at his office on Wednesday. Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, National Coordinator for Emergency Operations Centre Dr Rana Mohammad Safdar, Secretary Health KP Abid Majid, Coordinator EOC KP Atif Rehman and other officials and representatives from partner organizations were present in the meeting.
The Provincial Task Force periodically reviewed progress of Pakistan Polio Programme in the province and take stock of the situation to devise future roadmap.
Chief Secretary thanked the National as well as Provincial EOCs and partners for providing necessary guidance and support to achieve the ultimate target of achieving zero in the province. He said that provincial government is fully focused on making polio programme a success by ensuring that no child is missed during the polio campaign.
He said that all arrangements for the upcoming campaign scheduled to start from February 12 across the province has been finalized and asked the government officials from health department and deputy commissioners to focus on the population moving from Afghanistan and other high risks zones of Pakistan to make sure that not even a passing through child is missed during the upcoming campaign. He assured the National team that general election will not deviate their attention from the noble cause of polio eradication.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq while addressing the taskforce meeting appreciated the progress made by the provincial team in the fight against polio eradication. However, she said that the task is not finished yet and we should not relax until we defeat the polio virus in the country.
She said that presence of polio virus in Peshawar is a matter of concern but hoped that immediate response in the area ensures that our health officials and district administration are well aware of the risks polio virus poses to the children.
Senator Ayesha urged the parents to cooperate with the visiting Sehat Muhafiz during the upcoming campaign and ensure that not only they vaccinate their children but also vaccinate every guest child.
She thanked the provincial government and specifically Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak for the continued patronage of the polio eradication programme. She also appreciated the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Secretary Health, Divisional and District Administration for the progress made so far.
She pointed out that of the total 8 polio cases reported in 2017, five were from refusals families that underline the need to convince the refusing parents to vaccinate their children.
She informed that the experts around the world say that Pakistan has the best chance to stop polio virus and save the children of Pakistan from lifelong paralysis.
