The issue of polio eradication should be included in the agenda of ongoing talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao on Tuesday.
“All and sundry should join hands against polio,” he said while speaking on a motion moved by Shazia Mari in the National Assembly to discuss steps for elimination of the contagious disease. Sherpao said the health ministry officials should be held responsible for detection of each case of polio.
Dr Azra Fazl Pechhu condemned the killings of polio workers and urged the clerics to support administering polio vaccine to children.
“The condition of polio eradication must be included in agenda for dialogue with Taliban,” she added, expressing concern over surfacing of 96 polio cases in the country this year.
Shazia Mari, mover of the motion, said the government must take adequate steps for eradicating the menace of polio. She regretted that polio existed in only three countries, one of which is Pakistan.
Abdul Rahim Mandokhel said preventive measures must be taken to protect the children from the disease.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) was taking effective measures to eradicate polio. The recent campaign of the KPK provincial government for polio eradication has been appreciated by international organisations, including Bill Gate Foundation and World Health Organisation, he said.
Shahabuddin suggested that the menace of polio could be eliminated by punishing the father of the victim of polio.
“Father of the polio victim should be sent to jail for not administering polio vaccines to his ward,” he added.
Shania Akhtar said the earnings of polio workers should be enhanced, as they faced life-threatening situations and worked hard to fulfill their duties. Adequate funds should be allocated for the vulnerable areas as compared to normal areas of the country, she added.
Pakistan is the among the three countries left with the virus still present and spreading in its public, the other two being Nigeria and Afghanistan. The insurgent TTP and other militant organisations have opposed the polio vaccination campaigns in the KPK, Karachi and nearly all parts of the country, calling it a conspiracy “to conduct espionage”.
