Lahore – The Punjab Health Department has asked all teaching hospitals to provide at least 100 employees each to take part in the polio eradication campaign starting shortly. The health department has also made a similar demand to district headquarters hospitals (DHQs) to assign employees for the same cause. A circular has been distributed from the health department to all teaching hospitals and DHQs. Hospitals and DHQs subsequently started preparing lists of the employees they can spare for the campaign. All teaching hospitals have started to compile a list of employees to be spared for the polio eradication campaign. The chosen employees will not receive special stipends. Most of the chosen employees are from hospital laboratories and relevant departments who can vaccinate a child under the age of five years.
This is for the first time that hospital staff is being engaged for the polio campaign. Health Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Umar Farooq Baloch said that in the past the vaccinators did not take much interest in anti-polio campaigns and because of their carelessness, a number of polio-affected children surfaced in various cities. He said that the health department had decided to utilize employees from different government departments such as health, education, and city district government.
He said the government would not pay them for their contribution. Jinnah Hospital Medical superintendent Dr Muhammad Hassan confirmed that they had prepared a final list of employees from different departments in pursuance of the health department’s directive. He saud that they have started training dispensers, student nurses, laboratory assistants and others. He said that although the health department has taken a positive step for anti polio campaign, various government hospitals would suffer a lot due to the shortage of employees the new measure would create.
Previously, the health department used to pay all vaccinators more than Rs 150 per day, approximately Rs 500 for the three-day campaign which was an amount not sufficient enough to motivate or attract people to take part in the campaign as an incentive.
Due to little incentives given by the government, the appointed vaccinators are showing low interest in the polio eradication campaign. However, the government has decided to continue with the decision to utilize government employees for anti polio campaign. Sources told Pakistan Today that more than 1000 vaccinators will be recruited from various hospitals for the campaign and another 2000 will come from government departments.
