QUETTA: Balochistan Home Department said it will take adequate security measures to ensure safety of polio workers during the upcoming polio eradication drive in the province.

“The anti-polio campaign in Quetta will be conducted in a single phase rather than two phases as was done in the past,” said Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani, while addressing a meeting at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC).

“Security forces will ensure that people do not refuse polio drops for their children, and we will provide adequate security coverage because eradicating polio is a top priority for us,” said Durrani.

Read: Another polio case confirmed in Balochistan.

Durrani chaired the 4th Provincial Security Coordination Committee meeting which was attended by Commissioner Quetta Kamber Dashti, EOC chair Syed Saif Ur Rehman, Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema, Additional Home Secretary Noor Ahmed Samoon, security officials, officials from World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Officials from EOC briefed all those present regarding recent cases of polio virus detected in the province and reasons for delay in polio eradication campaigns.

It was noted in the meeting that districts of Quetta, Zhob and Sherani were not covered in the previous drive due to inadequate security. Participants of the meeting decided to rectify the situation on an immediate basis.

It was also decided during the meeting that a senior police official will be deployed at EOC to improve coordination between security forces and workers from the health sector.

According to officials from the provincial government of Balochistan, polio cases in the province have declined by 78 per cent as compared to last year.

Read more: 4,000 parents in northern Balochistan refuse polio vaccination

Around two dozen polio cases were reported from Balochistan last year. The most affected areas in the province include Quetta, Killa Abdullah and Pishin district.

The government has declared a polio emergency throughout the province to root out the crippling virus from the region. But the anti-polio drive in the province has been marred by instances of terrorism, whereby polio health workers have been attacked and killed on numerous occasions.

After an attack late last year that killed four polio workers in Quetta, including three women, volunteers and health workers boycotted the campaign in Balochistan in lieu of security threats.

But WHO, in collaboration with the provincial government, has been resilient in its efforts to drive out the virus from the region. After the deadly attack in Quetta last year, the WHO made clear it will not close down or withdraw its operations in Balochistan or anywhere else in Pakistan.