“Potentially missed children and missed polio circulation should be taken as a serious risk to our [polio] goal,” Farooq said in her opening remarks. PHOTO: PPI
Polio officials from the two countries gathered in Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss mutual challenges in eradicating the disease and to review the status of common polio reservoirs, epidemiological block and joint planning. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two remaining countries where polio is endemic.
Both sides agreed to improve the cross-border coordination mechanism so that poliovirus can be eliminated in the upcoming vaccination campaigns till December.
Bordering areas between the two countries remain a major challenge in terms of eradicating polio because of a large population movement and inaccessibility, owing to security reasons. According to officials, seven polio cases reported in the last four months were linked to these border areas. Pakistan has, so far in 2016, reported 14 cases, while Afghanistan has nine.
The two countries agreed to share information of migrating populations in advance for vaccination. Awareness material in different languages will be shared, while religious edicts will be used to help convince the public to accept vaccination.
During the meeting, National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) National Coordinator Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar raised concerns over the immunity gap in North and South Waziristan and South Eastern Afghanistan because of which the virus was being transmitted from Hangu through DI Khan, up to southeast Afghanistan.
Dr Safdar also highlighted that all polio cases in South Waziristan and southeast Afghanistan occurred due to a lack of vaccination among the mobile population, especially displaced people returning to their native areas.
Presenting a progress report, he said full-time vaccinators will be covering the entire target population in the Quetta and the Khyber-Peshawar block. Karachi, however, will be only partially covered at 67 per cent. To boost anti-polio efforts, Dr Safdar said they had planned to conduct mixed campaigns where oral doses will be combined with injectable vaccines in drives scheduled for January and February 2017 for ‘core reservoir’ and high risk districts. This campaign will be in addition to the nine oral dose campaigns already planned.
“Permanent Transit Points (PTPs) have been prioritised with special focus given to transnational and interprovincial posts, while monitoring and evaluation activities including expanded independent assessment of campaign are further enhanced,” Dr Safdar added.
He further said stated that authorities are increasing the polio surveillance programme by focusing their attention on “missed Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP)” or non-polio cases and “missed transmission cases”.
Earlier, while jointly chairing the meeting, Prime Minister’s Polio Focal Person Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq and Afghanistan’s National Polio Focal Person Dr Hidayatullah Satenkzai agreed on closing remaining coordination gaps at the provincial, regional and district levels.
Further, they agreed to develop specific plans to strengthen campaign quality and micro-synchronisation along the border, mapping and strengthening vaccination of high-risk mobile population.
Dr Satenkzai underscored the need for screening all who were moving between the two countries. He appreciated the joint team work of Pakistan and Afghanistan polio teams and emphasised polio eradication as a collective responsibility over and above any political difference.
“Potentially missed children and missed polio circulation should be taken as a serious risk to our [polio] goal,” Farooq said in her opening remarks.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2016.
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