Punjab hopes for a polio-free year

No new case has surfaced in the province in 2016

LAHORE: Punjab is hoping for a zero polio year as it prepares for a polio campaign that would commence from December 19 to 21. The campaign will target 18.4 million children under the age of five.

This was said by Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir on Friday. He was speaking during a meeting to review the campaign preparations in the provincial Emergency Operation Centre.

“Even though Punjab is eying 12 months without a case, persistent circulation of virus means the threat is still there and the good job has to continue,” he said.



On the occasion, Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Ali Jan Khan directed the districts to ensure compliance with indicators of the National Emergency Action for Polio Eradication. As part of the plan, all districts are required to prepare micro plans and hold preparatory meetings under the chair of DCOs.

Health Services Director General Dr Mukhtar Hussain Syed also reviewed the preparations and directed to lay special emphasis on Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore due to occurrence of positive polio samples.

Meanwhile, Punjab’s Emergency Operation Coordinator Dr Munir Ahmed said recent environmental samples have been a cause of concern indicating the presence of virus in the environment. He added, “At the end of the year, we are going to give this campaign our best shot. Rawalpindi’s positive sample last week was the 10th in Punjab this year.”

He maintained, “We have had three positive samples in Lahore and Rawalpindi, two in Faisalabad, one in Multan and one in Dera Ghazi Khan.” Dr. Munir also said, “At least 44,654 teams have been constituted in the province, including 37,845 mobile teams, 4,439 fixed teams and 2,370 transit teams. We are trying to reach out to mobile and migrant population coming from polio affected areas.”

Pakistan has recorded 19 polio cases this year with eight each in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, two in FATA and one in Balochistan. Punjab has had no case this year.

Globally, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries still having polio cases. The world has never been in a better position to eradicate polio. Pakistan is the key to global eradication and it has made great progress towards polio eradication in the last one year, bringing down the toll from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015 and to 19 in 2016.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2016.