Time to bid farewell to Polio

Polio eradication is among the top priorities of the government in health sector.

This was said by President Mamnoon Hussain while talking to Dr Robert S Scott from Rotary International at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by Rotary National Chair Aziz Memon, Chair of Rotary Foundation Mohammad Faiz Kidwai, Minister of state, National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar, Secretary to the President Ahmad Farooq, Press Secretary to the President Saba Mohsin Raza and Director General Dr Jahanzeb Aurakzai.

The president said strong oversight mechanism had been put in place to ensure effective implementation of polio eradication campaign and programme in the country.

Commenting on the oversight mechanism for polio eradication, the president said various institutional apparatus and initiatives including National Task Force on Polio Eradication, National Emergency Action Plan 2013 and the prime minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell had made significant progress in the fight against polio and would prove instrumental in making Pakistan a polio free country.

He said due to strict oversight and monitoring at the federal, provincial and district level, the incidence of polio cases in Pakistan had decreased appreciably during the last two years.

The president expressed confidence over the government’s firm resolve to continue its close collaboration with the Rotary International to strengthen its national efforts in ridding the country and the world of this crippling disease.

He said despite various challenges to polio eradication teams in FATA, the government was determined and was taking all out steps including innovative immunisation strategies and close coordination with the security forces to reach out to each and every child under the age of 5 years in remote tribal areas especially FATA.

Dr Robert S Scott appreciated the various initiatives and steps being taken by the government for eradication of Polio in Pakistan and assured full support of the Rotary International in its efforts to make Pakistan a polio free country.