ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is one of the four countries in the world where polio still exists, and the numbers of polio cases are increasing every year as seen in 2010. In this context, the parliamentarians and health experts suggested on Wednesday to move the draft compulsory Immunisation Bill in the Parliament and the provincial assemblies counter the disease.
The experts stressed the need of a nationwide awareness campaign with effective participation of the parliamentarians and media for complete eradication of polio.
They were speaking at a Legislative Forum on ‘Critical Need to Improve Immunisation in Pakistan and the Draft Compulsory Immunization Bill’ organised by PILDAT, a local think tank.
Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq said that the state was a polio free area because of the state government’s efforts towards ensuring maximum immunisation coverage. Zameen Khan, a member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly assured the audience that the provincial assembly would pass the bill whenever introduced, as the province was affected badly by polio.
Vice-President Parliamentary Caucus on Immunisation in the National Assembly Fozia Ejaz Khan urged the public representatives to take interest and work in their own areas to make immunisation campaign a success. She was of the opinion that immunisation teams were less paid and a dysfunctional local government system was a major cause of the campaigns’ failure.
Founding president of Pakistan Health Policy Forum Dr Sania Nishtar was very critical of the prevailing situation and presented data about polio cases reported in the country. Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan asked the PILDAT to arrange a forum in polio-hit areas like interior Sindh and FATA and called for better coordination between the Parliament and the provincial assemblies for legislation purposes.
