Agency surgeons directed to focus on inaccessible areas

Number of cases see significant drop from 179 in 2014 to 16 in 2015

PESHAWAR: FATA Additional Chief Secretary Mohammad Aslam Qambo has directed the health department and agency surgeons to shift the focus of polio campaigns to areas which are inaccessible in coordination with security agencies.

These views were expressed by Qambo while chairing a meeting to review the polio programme in Fata. The meeting was held at Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) on Tuesday, stated a press release issued by the FATA EOC.

EOC Coordinator and FATA Secretary Law & Order and Planning & Development Shakeel Qadir Khan, Social Sector Secretary Waqarul Hassan, agency surgeons of Fata, and officials from UNICEF, WHO and BMGF attended the meeting.

Decrease

Participants were told the inaccessibility of areas reduced from 31% to only 2%.  Similarly, polio-affected tehsils in the region reduced from 15 in 2014 to eight in 2015. The number of polio cases in Fata decreased significantly in 2015 as only 16 cases were reported as compared to 179 in 2014.

The meeting also discussed challenges faced by the programme and directives were issued to address them and help eradicate the poliovirus from the region. Qambo directed polio teams to continue to work hard to achieve the programme’s objectives.

He added accountability should be maintained, and poorly performing individuals should be identified and taken to task.

Qadir Khan advised agency surgeon of Frontier Region Peshawar to synchronise the polio campaigns with the provincial capital for maximum coverage. He said they should reach missed children in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2016.