Provincial Minister for Health and Food Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar on Thursday said that eradication of polio was priority of the Sindh government and claimed that polio virus would be eliminated from Sindh including Karachi within two months.
He shared these views during a meeting with Consul General US Karachi Brian Heath at his office. Deputy Mission Director USAID Leon S Waskin and Secretary Health Iqbal Durrani were also present.
Jam Mehtab said polio cases were being reported from 11 union councils of Karachi out of total 188 UCs. He said the chief minister had formed a committee comprising Karachi commissioner, secretary health and inspector general to ensure better vaccination in these union councils.
He informed that polio cases were detected in 11 UCs of Karachi and these areas belonged to Pakhtoon community where 2,33,000 children reside. He said for eradication of the polio virus, a drive would be launched in these UCs every week on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. He said police and Rangers would assist the polio teams in these areas.
On this occasion, Secretary Health Iqbal Durrani said that the health department was properly coordinating with the USAID in various projects. He said all-out steps would be taken to vaccinate children at entrance points of Sindh province.
Consul General Brain Heath stressed the need for inclusion of civil society in polio eradication campaigns. He said elimination of polio was a big challenge for authorities concerned, however, the USAID always gave priority to projects related with children’s health.
he I�ut�� pR� ted police to intensify the ongoing operations against the criminals inKarachi in proper coordination with Sindh Rangers and other law enforcement agencies. He also directed not to avoid any single intelligence information and follow it in letter and spirit.
