The National Islamic Advisory Group (NIAG) reiterated its resolve to support the Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme to root out the virus.
Members of NIAG core group met here at the National Emergency Operations Centre on Tuesday to review the national and provincial work plans and ensure alignment with the eradication programme plan under the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) 2017-18.
With only four recorded cases so far this year and great progress toward the goal, it is easy to conclude that the worst is over, but for a programme striving to achieve and maintain zero – actually it’s not.
In her message to the forum, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq lauded the role of learned religious scholars in addressing questions and misconceptions from communities, families and parents – a key role in Pakistan’s pursuit to protect our children by reaching and vaccinating missed child.
“Despite the progress made to date in bringing the number of children paralyzed by the poliovirus to a record low, anything less than the protection of every single child in Pakistan from the menace of polio cannot be acceptable”, she added.
She said that the oral polio vaccine was safe – medically there’s no limit to how many times you can receive it. Polio invades your child’s body, makes him or her disabled for life, and even kills. There is no cure from this disease! However, the polio drops are there to protect your child.
National Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator, Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar highlighted that to stamp out polio, we have to block the virus from finding a host – each child, simply put, if not fully vaccinated is at risk – and this also endangers the health of the nation. Recent cases indicate that the resilient Polio virus has the capability to reach and paralyze our children as long as they are sub-optimally protected either because of refusals or being missed for other reasons.
The data clearly indicates that we still have pockets of vulnerable children who could not avail every vaccination opportunity during last year’s campaigns – we must do better in upcoming campaigns or we put our remarkable progress at risk, he added.
Chair of the core group of NIAG Maulana Hanif Jalandhri, said, “Vaccinating children against polio is in accordance with Islamic Shariah and teachings and considered a religious obligation as effective means to protect children’s health and save their lives. I am always keen that my own grandchildren would not miss their polio drops every time the vaccination teams knock on my door”.
“Our support to the campaign will continue until Pakistan is polio-free and all our children are safe from polio” Maulana Jalandhri said.
Maulana Hanif Tayyab, Chair of Polio Plus Ulema Committee, said, “Our duty and responsibility as religious community leaders is to ensure parents vaccinate their children under the age of five against this debilitating but preventable disease. It is parents’ religious obligation to do so; ignoring this might leave these children paralyzed for life”.
The support of religious leaders has been instrumental in increasing vaccine acceptance and reaching missed children in communities across Pakistan.
