Punjab Health Special Secretary Babar Hayat Tarar said on Saturday that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would be requested to relax the ban on the recruitment of vaccinators to fulfill the shortage of staff in Rawalpindi.
He said that Rawalpindi was on top of the list in the performance of polio vaccination campaigns in the province.
DCO and EDO of health department should furnish their demands in the secretariat to transmit the request to the Election Commission to lift the ban.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Imdadullah Bosal said directions had been issued to DCOs regarding the campaigns against the polio drive and that ACs should also be involved at tehsil level to make these campaigns successful.
The meeting was held at the commissioner’s office and was presided over by Punjab Health Special Secretary Babar Hayat Tarar and Rawalpindi Commissioner Imdadullah Bosal.
The meeting was attended by Punjab Health DG Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, by the DCOs and health EDOs of Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Attock and Jhelum and by the Punjab local government director.
In the meeting, directions were issued that strict monitoring should be carried out in every polio campaign and the staff which refused to perform duties or showed any sort of negligence should be strictly dealt with under the E&D rules.
The health department was also directed to carry out awareness campaigns from time to time to aware the parents regarding the symptoms of the crippling disease.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Imdad Ullah Bosal directed the DCOs that strict monitoring should be carried out and meetings in this regard should be held regularly.
He further directed the Afghan refugees should be focused upon and preventive measures should be taken accordingly.
Health education should also be focused and seminars should be held in colleges and schools to aware students about these campaigns.
“Officials involved in any sort of negligence should be dealt with an iron hand and strict action should be taken against them,” he added.