LAHORE: Heads of nine community-oriented organisations have pledged support to the initiatives aimed at eradicate polio from Punjab, assuring the government of their cooperation for the purpose across the province.

The pledge was made at a jirga (a traditional gathering) organised in Lahore on Thursday, says a press release.

Over 30 representatives of key priority community organisations participated in the jirga, including Pakhtun Falahi Tanzeem, Mohmand Loya Jirga, Afghan Refugees Aman Committee, Khattak Welfare Association, Marwat Welfare Association, Bajaur Ittehad, Hazara Welfare Organisation, Minzal Welfare Organisation and Pakhtun Qabail Movement.

The session was presided over by the head of the polio programme in Punjab and Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal.

During the jirga, these organisations’ representatives said they had been extending cooperation for different initiatives launched in Punjab to eradicate polio, including awareness campaigns, blood donations, provision of volunteers for duties at transit points and polio workers for priority teams. They unanimously agreed to support polio teams in their neighbhourhoods so that all children under five are vaccinated against the crippling disease.

They also pledged to expand the cooperation across the province, instead of just in mega cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.

Punjab EOC Coordinator Mr Afzaal acknowledged the support provided by priority community elders and the organisations in dealing with reluctance among their communities to get the children vaccinated and provision of human resource in their neighbourhoods for carrying out anti-polio initiatives.

“Community reluctance has declined with your support. The human resource provided by the priority communities in terms of teams visiting households and vaccinating children is also bearing fruits. Years back, thousands of children [would] miss vaccination due to community reluctance. But with your support, Punjab has been able to overcome that, which is commendable”, he said.

Sharing observations by the delegates of Polio Oversight Board, Mr Afzaal said the international community had special interest in eradication of polio from Pakistan.

“As long as polio is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, no country and no child on the globe is safe from polio. So the international community is genuinely concerned about risk of polio spread in Pakistan,” he added.

He recalled that Punjab was polio free for the last three years, but virus has been traced in key cities, indicating that the province was at risk of poliovirus importation due to movement of population from all over the country.

Mr Afzaal urged the participants of the gathering to improve coordination with authorities in their respective areas, highlighting the need to alert local health department about arrival of new communities from other parts of the country.

He called upon the community elders to ensure that all children are vaccinated timely against all vaccine preventable diseases.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2024