Polio monitoring group eyes Peshawar with concern

IMB meeting urges concerted efforts between Pakistan, Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Members of an international observatory board on polio have expressed concern over Peshawar and Karachi turning into the last battlegrounds in the fight to eradicate the disease, urging concerted efforts between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the purpose.

Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, the national coordinator of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio and had attended the meeting of International Monitoring Board (IMB) in London this week, said that continued transmission of the virus in Peshawar remained a concern.

He added that the meeting pressed for concerted efforts between Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) and Afghanistan to eradicate the disease.

Dr Safdar told The Express Tribune that IMB members, as well as other participants, detailed how sewerage samples from the Peshawar-Khyber block constantly showed presence of polio virus resulting in as many as four cases from the area. “Special emphasis was also laid on Karachi where positive environmental samples continue to emerge,” he said, adding that together with northern Sindh the metropolis accounted for all the four cases reported from the province in 2015.

Appreciation for Pakistan

Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person for polio, highlighted Pakistan efforts to combat the disease at the meeting and how these had resulted in an 85 per cent decline in number of cases.

IMB Chairman Liam Donaldson congratulated Pakistan for the progress achieved since the last IMB meeting in April 2014, and hoped commitment at all levels would continue till the virus is eradicated.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2015.