ISLAMABAD – Lack of coordination between the legislators and bureaucracy is responsible for the failure to control polio in the country, as 24 new cases have been registered so far in the current year, which is twice in number when compared with same period last year. Another alarming fact is that 0.25 million children are still inaccessible in FATA. Public representatives and health experts made these comments on Monday while asking for proper monitoring and oversight of the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) 2011 to eradicate polio at a workshop organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT).
Lawmakers suggested a nationwide awareness campaign with effective participation of parliamentarians and media to eradicate the crippling ailment. Dr Asad Ashraf, Chairman Punjab Task Force on Health Punjab, pointed the fact that the three countries where polio still persisted were Muslim while the most affected province of India, Bihar, also had a sizeable Muslim population. Dr Azhar Abid Raza, a health specialist from UNICEF, reminded the audience that Pakistan is one of the only four countries in the world where polio still exists with the number of reported cases rising.
He said 144 polio cases were found in 40 districts during 2010 but four had been detected in Afghanistan, 12 in India and only one in Nigeria, adding that only one case each was reported so far these countries during the current year. He cited security and access in FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan besides poor service delivery and quality, accountability and lake of awareness as the main challenges.
According to Deputy National Programme Manager EPI Agha Ishfaq said FATA, central Punjab, Quetta, Qilla Abdullah, Karachi, Hyderabad and Jacobabad are the high risk areas. He admitted that over 2, 50,000 children are still inaccessible in FATA. He said the migrated population was yet another source of transmission of polio virus.
Fozia Ejaz Khan, vice-president National Assembly Caucus on Immunisation, said media should run effective awareness campaigns, especially on FM radio channels, which were the main source of information in FATA and other remote areas.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry MNA warned it was not necessary that all polio cases were being reported from across Pakistan and the ground realities could be much more alarming.
