PESHAWAR, April 21: Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan has said that polio eradication was a legal and constitutional responsibility of the government and the court will take notice of every polio case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fix responsibility.

He was speaking at a function on Saturday to inaugurate the three-day polio campaign to be conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas from April 23.

The chief justice pointed out that a PHC bench presided by him had already observed that the state couldn’t evade its responsibility under the garb of scarcity of resources with regard to protecting marriage, family, the mother and child as enshrined in Article 35 of the Chapter of Principles.

He also proposed to the government that in view of the growing polio cases in the Fata either the ongoing military operation be stopped or the safety of the staff deputed to administer vaccine to all children be ensured.

The chief justice said that the government could also tie issuance of the computerised national identity card and passport to a clearance certificate about vaccination of all children of the family of the applicant.

Judges of the high court, registrar, advocate general, deputy attorney general, members of the subordinate judiciary, lawyers and parents participated in the function, while the AIG motorways police Farooq Azam, Unicef representative Lucio Malandry, WHO’s Dr Ubaidul Islam, DG health Dr Sharif Ahmad, EPI director Dr Janbaz Afridi and secretary health Mohammad Ishfaq spoke on the occasion.

With regard to the role of provincial judiciary, the chief justice said that it was very crucial if seen in the perspective of public interest, and predominantly more legal than scientific.

The fundamental right of security of a person as guaranteed by the Constitution is not confined to providing security against the physical onslaughts, “but it encompasses the provision of all that which is necessary for leading a healthy life”, he said.

The chief justice said that the Constitution while guaranteeing the fundamental right apparently focused on individuals, but the ultimate scheme was to make this individual lead a purposeful and meaningful life so as to be a valuable contributor towards collective life of all the citizens of the country. This objective cannot be achieved if the term “life” is taken into its narrower sense of mere physical existence, he observed.

Meanwhile, the secretary health on Saturday chaired a meeting to assess readiness of the high risk districts of Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and Kohat for the national immunization days. The DCOs of the districts concerned, DG health and representatives of WHO and Unicef attended the meeting.

All the districts presented details of their preparation for the April National Immunisation Days (NIDs), and specific actions taken during preparation phase. The partners showed satisfaction over the efforts of Peshawar and Nowshera DCOs for carrying out quality campaigns in response to influx of Bara IDPs. The secretary directed for improvement of the monitoring of polio campaigns.