PESHAWAR, Jan 31: Governor Barrister Masood Kausar on Tuesday expressed concern over emergence of polio cases in the province and the Fata notwithstanding persistent efforts for eradication of the virus. He stressed that the polio eradication should be taken as a national challenge.

“We must ensure people’s participation at gross-root level to achieve optimum results,” he said while addressing the launching ceremony of the three-day special anti-polio campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, held at Lady Reading Hospital here on Tuesday.

Fata MNAs Munir Orakzai and Sajid Hussain Turi attended the ceremony on special invitation besides the officials of the health departments of the province and Fata.

Ulema and people from different walks of life, including women, were also present.

The governor administered polio drops to children to launch the campaign.

He said eradication of polio was not possible until people at the gross root level were not involved in the campaign.  The process, he added should not be confined to the government and its functionaries. He said apparently polio eradication was not a difficult task as it didn’t involve prolong and perturbing treatment.

“It is a precautionary measure by nature and we can save the children from this menace by simply giving them a few drops of polio vaccine regularly,” remarked Mr Kausar, adding that commitment and seriousness to the cause were the basic requirements for success in this regard.

The governor urged the authorities to sort out the real causes and reasons behind the failures and take remedial measures.

He appreciated the assistance being extended by the international organisations like Unicef, WHO and Bill Gates Foundation to rid Pakistan of the menace of polio. He underlined the role of media in creating mass awareness and motivation, saying students, ulema, womenfolk especially the mothers were needed to be involved in the anti-polio drives.

He said that rural population in particular must be pursued that polio vaccination was not unsafe rather necessary to save their children from becoming paralysed forever.

Dr Wafaa Saeed, Unicef representative, appreciated the government’s emergency action plan and hoped that the plan, if implemented correctly, could produce tangible results.

However she stressed the need for accountability of the responsible functionaries at the lower level.