PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health and Finance, Taimur Saleem Jhagra while appreciating the remarkable achievements in the war against polio Tuesday stressed the need for putting in specific strategy to track missed children in high risk districts to help ensure vaccination to all target children under the age of five.
He said this in Provincial Task Force meeting on Polio at the Chief Secretary Office, says a press release issued here. Chairperson Provincial Assembly Standing Committee on Health, Ms Rabia Basri, TAG Chairman, Jean Mark, IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Moazam Jah, Secretary Home KP, Ikramullah, Principal Staff officer To CM Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Finance KP, Atif Rehman, Secretary Health KP, Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, Secretary Elementary education, Yahya Akhunzada, CCPO, Abbas Ahsan, Add Secretary Health (polio) Abdul Basit, Director EPI, Dr Arif, UNICEF country Chief of Polio, Hamesh Young, DG Health Dr Niaz, Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of all divisions were present on the occasion.
Taimur Jhagra said that after a long time real and tangible progress have been made in the war against polio as most of the environmental samples are negative indicating that virus transmission is stopped in the high risk districts of the province.
He said that it was due to the tireless efforts of the frontline workers, guidance and ownership of the government that no wild polio virus case has been reported from the province for more than year now.
However, he added that negligence and complacency would not be tolerated as it might lead us back to the outbreak situation and directed all the stakeholders to work with same dedication to help the country steer out of the menace.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary KP, Dr Kazim Niaz, who is leading provincial task force, announced early start of the August campaign in view of the upcoming month of Muharram and the related security issues.
He said that campaign would now start from July 30, instead of August 2, to ensure foolproof security to the frontline workers and avoid any untoward situation. Dr Kazim Niaz lauded the efforts put in by the provincial EOC by engaging cross segments of the society specially the parliamentarians hoping that the law makers would inaugurate the August and upcoming campaigns in their respective Constituencies.
He directed commissioners and deputy commissioners to lead the polio vaccination campaign and take full responsibility and ownership of anti-polio efforts in their respective districts and to address issues at the local level using best possible interventions.
Chief Secretary, while underpinning the need for improved coordination as the lynchpin for the quick turnaround, directed all the line departments to bridge the coordination gaps and work dedicatedly for polio eradication and better health services in their respective districts.
Earlier, Coordinator Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abdul Basit presented June SNID 2021 review, challenges, epidemiology, readiness status of upcoming anti-polio campaign in the province. In the end, the chief secretary thanked international partners including TAG Chair, WHO, UNICEF and NSTOP for providing technical support in the fight against polio.