KARACHI: Pakistan to be free of polio by 2008: WHO
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 19: The WHO’s eastern Mediterranean regional director, Dr Hussein Al Gezairy said on Thursday that Pakistan could pull off polio cases in 2008 provided it worked hard in its ‘four high-risk’ areas and continued maintaining the highest immunisation campaigns in the remaining areas.
He was speaking to newsmen at a local hotel, after his meetings with Sindh governor and chief minister, provincial health minister and addressing a gathering of Ulema and town health officials.
Dr Gezairy said that there was a need to concentrate more on high-risk areas, including Karachi and some northern parts of Sindh, Naseerabad in Balochistan and Waziristan in the NWFP, which had sub-optimal anti-polio vaccination campaign quality, and giving that not all children under 5 were reached.
The WHO official said that Pakistan, which was included in those four countries still remaining endemic with polio, reported 25 per cent of the total polio cases in the world in 1994, but, as a result of global partnership forged between the governments, UN agencies and the civil society, had been able to remarkably contain the cases.
Pakistan reported a total of 14 cases in 2006, while another seven cases have been reported this year, which gave to understand that it was close to eradicate polio, he added, saying that any negligence or lack in surveillance activities and slackness in immunisation could cause emergence of the crippling disease as one case of polio meant 100-200 children were affected with the virus.
He said that cases reported in Pakistan could be a result of reintroduction of polio virus from across the border, but at the same time it was a matter of great relief that Afghanistan, had not reported any case during the last four months or so.
Dr Gezairy said that there were some operational challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including active surveillance to detect and respond to possible outbreak, which could be met through an improved communication with every household and renewed commitment from the political leadership at the federal, provincial and local levels.
“Once a country succeeds in eradicating polio for one entire year, it needs to continue with vaccinations reaching to 95-100 per cent of the children of age up to five years and also to have a strong check on the importation and transmission of virus”, he added and mentioned that under a newly reached decision the number of polio vaccination points were being increased to 10 from the existing two along the Pakistan--Afghanistan border, which were part of a single epidemiological block in the context of polio and needed to supplement each other in achieving ‘zero-polio prevalence’.
Coming on to his meetings with the high-ups in the provincial government, he said that he had appreciated the good results that Sindh had shown in its drive against polio, but also stressed the need for not transferring key officials like EDOs (health) and others from one place to other frequently, as such changes hamper the implementation of polio relevant strategies as well.
Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud, WHO country representative in Pakistan, Sindh Health Secretary Dr Naushad A. Shaikh, Special Health Secretary Dr Abdul Majid also spoke.
Dr Naushad informed the journalists that during the meeting between Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan and Dr Gezairy, high officials concerned were directed to ensure inclusion of a chapter on public health in textbooks meant for school students. As students can prove to be effective messengers to their respective families on public health issues, including polio disease, and their causes and preventions, he added.
Earlier, speaking at a gathering of Ulema, Dr Gezairy said that unfortunately three of the Muslim countries were included in the list of four countries of the world where polio still existed. He said that Islam stressed the need for taking precautionary and preventive measures against fatal diseases, but it was unfortunate that rumours were being spread in some of the Muslim countries that campaigns against polio were un-Islamic.
He urged Ulema and professionals to play their due role in creating awareness about polio, so that children could be saved from disability of all life or death, eventually.
Speaking on the occasion, the provincial health minister also undermined the so-called conceptions against polio and called upon the clerics to motivate the masses to get anti-polio drops administered to their children.
