Balochistan

Plea for removing hurdles in anti-polio drive

All stakeholders must work together for eradicating the polio virus

Our Correspondent December 09, 2016

As many as 1.02m children will be inoculated in FATA, 1.6m in Balochistan

QUETTA: Quetta Commissioner Amjad Ali Khan on Thursday appealed for greater coordination among all stakeholders to rid the province of the polio threat and ordered tougher measures to

According to him, the provincial government and district administration will pledge the maximum possible resources for eradicating this crippling disease.

He shared his views during a meeting of the divisional task force which was held at EOC in Quetta for reviewing the progress of anti-polio campaigns in all districts of Balochistan.

“The districts administrations of Pishin and Qilla Abdullah must persuade parents of children missed during the previous drives for administering anti-polio drops,” Amjad Ali Khan said.

DIG Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema, the deputy commissioners of Qilla Abdullah, Pishin, Chagai, and Coordinator of the Emergency Polio Centre, Quetta, Dr Faisal Ahmed, representatives of Unicef and officials of the provincial health department attended the meeting.

Stressing the need for quickly addressing flaws identified during previous anti-polio campaigns, the Quetta commissioner said: “We have to redouble efforts against the polio virus … No negligence will be tolerated during the next anti-polio campaigns and the district administration must persuade parents who previously refused.”

Focusing on delivering quality service in high-risk areas of the province during upcoming three-day anti-polio drive, Dr Faisal said: “We are following a zero-tolerance policy in connection with anti-polio campaigns … Defeating the (polio) virus is our (top) priority.”

Criticising previous provincial governments and district administrations, he said: “Let us begin anew and remove all flaws in our efforts to root out this disease … All stakeholders must work together for eradicating the polio virus.” He said that the districts administrators had assured his organisation that all children missed during previous campaigns would be vaccinated.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2016.