Terrorist attacks cannot deter us from eradicating polio: Saira Afzal

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Health Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarrar on Friday strongly condemned the cowardly attack by the terrorists on polio team in Balochistan in which two female workers have been martyred.

Talking to a private news channel, the health minister said that she had immediately talked to the Balochistan Inspector General after informing the prime minister and would like to reiterate that these terrorists are afraid of Pakistan’s progress in the fight against polio.

She said that the international bodies, various donors and many nations have commended Pakistan’s progress.

“Certain enemies of Pakistan do not want us to eradicate polio from our country but let me tell them that our resolve cannot be defeated by such cowardly acts of terrorism,” she added.

“The martyred workers have rather rekindled our resolve to finish polio from the country and save our future generations from this deadly disease,” she said.

She said that the polio programme in Pakistan has made a great stride in the past couple of years, as from 306 reported polio cases in 2014, there only eight cases reported in 2017. All this progress is a testament to the dedication, hard work and sacrifices of our frontline health workers, security personnel, and support staff, she added.

“Our success thus far and our struggle towards complete eradication of polio is dedicated to workers like Shaheed Sakeena and her daughter Shaheed Rizwana,” she added.