News
Saturday, September 21, 2013
PM discusses polio eradication with WHO officialISLAMABAD: World Health Organisation (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region Director Dr Ala Alwan met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad to discuss progress of polio eradication efforts in Pakistan, on Friday. Dr Alwan also joined the meeting of the Prime Minister’s National Polio Task Force and held discussions with the Healthcare Services Regulation and Coordination Minister Saira Fazal Tarar. The purpose of Dr Alwan’s two-day visit to Pakistan was to assess the current situation of polio eradication through meetings with public health leaders, national and provincial government, and to support national action in this area. On behalf of the 23 counties in the region, and the wider international community, Dr Alwan reaffirmed the commitment to support Pakistan in its fight against polio. He said recent years had seen very considerable progress but there were now concerns about the ongoing transmission of the polio virus in Pakistan and its potential to spread. Several polio-free countries in the region were now extremely vulnerable because of the reintroduction of the polio virus. The regional director emphasised the advantage of strong accountability and oversight mechanisms, at national, provincial and local levels. He said there was a need to address severe difficulties in accessing children in some parts of FATA and the attacks on, and continuous intimidation of health workers in Karachi, Peshawar and neighbouring districts, which severely constrained the immunisation activities. Dr Alwan pointed out that these challenges were creating barriers between vaccinators and children, which meant that children remained unprotected and the polio virus still had a free reign in significant parts of the country. Saira Afzal Tarar thanked Dr Alwan for his cooperation on polio eradication drive in Pakistan. The minister discussed with him the issue of attacks on polio workers and assured that all the authorities concerned were now coordinating and the attackers would be punished. She said to achieve the goals, across-the-board accountability and firm institutional oversight and monitoring was needed to ensure effective functioning of the systems. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk