ISLAMABAD: As the fight against resurgence of poliovirus intensifies, the government hosted a high-level delegation this week from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) for a second time this year, reiterating the highest political commitment to eradication of the disease and protecting all children from paralytic polio.
According to a statement, the polio outbreak has affected 52 children in Pakistan this year.
The government has revitalised polio eradication efforts and is taking it forward as a national priority.
Under an intensified and targeted vaccination schedule, over 45 million children under the age of five years have been vaccinated in three national campaigns so far, while all focus is on stopping a fresh outbreak so that the country is finally polio-free.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Coordinator to the PM on National Health Services Dr Malik Mukhtar Bharath and Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq held meetings with the delegation in Islamabad during its stay from Nov 20 to 22.
The visitors also met the Army’s focal person for polio eradication, Lt Gen Kashif Nazir.
The delegation was led by Dr Chris Elias, the president for global development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It included Dr Hannan Balkhy, the WHO’s regional director for Eastern Mediterranean, Unicef’s regional director for South Asia Sanjay Wijesekera, Andi Fristedt, deputy director of the US Centre for Disease Control, and representatives from KS Relief, Dr Ziad Memish and Dr Abdullah Saleh Al Moallem.
The prime minister thanked the GPEI partners and donors for supporting Pakistan through the years and reiterated that polio eradication was the government’s top priority. “A strategic National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) is being implemented to reverse the virus surge and all chief ministers and secretaries are providing direct oversight and working in coordination to fight the current polio outbreak.
“The government of Pakistan will not rest until we have ended the scourge of polio from our borders,” Shehbaz Sharif said.
Ayesha Raza, the prime minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, and Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication Muhammad Anwarul Haq briefed the delegation about the current polio situation and implementation of the government’s emergency plan for eradication of polio.
Ayesha Raza said: “Collectively, we are responding to the virus resurgence at all levels on a war footing. We have revitalised a one-team approach and are deploying data-driven and locally tailored strategies to improve polio campaign quality, reach missed children, track and vaccinate moving populations, support routine immunisation in vulnerable areas, address vaccine hesitancy and provide integrated health service delivery to communities.”
Ayesha Raza highlighted the highest level of political commitment from the Prime Minister’s Office down to the district administrations.
A series of virtual meetings were arranged between the delegation and the provincial chief secretaries. The delegation was briefed about local strategies to combat the poliovirus outbreak and to address emerging challenges.
The delegation also engaged in an in-depth session with the Federal Directorate of Immunisation (FDI).
Positive environmental samples
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in environmental samples collected from 18 already infected districts.
The samples were collected from Chaman, Pishin, Quetta, Loralai, Zhob, Badin, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Kambar, Sukkur, Sujawal, Lahore, Dadu and five districts of Karachi — East, Keamari, South, Central and West.
Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024
