Capital increases staff for immunisation campaign

Mayor says local govt representatives will also be engaged for the six-day drive

ISLAMABAD: With the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi being termed as the “Achilles heel” of the national immunisation programme, the city has decided to ramp up the number of polio teams vaccinating children in the two cities.

In this regard, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) reviewed preparations for an upcoming polio campaign in the federal capital.

Mayor of Islamabad and CDA Chairman Sheikh Anser Aziz chaired a review meeting of the Islamabad and Rawalpindi Polio Coordination Committee at the CDA headquarters on Wednesday. The six-day polio immunisation campaign is expected to be launched early next week in the twin cities in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partner organisations. Both male and female polio teams have been enhanced for the campaign.

Mayor Aziz said that number of polio workers had been increased in order to achieve desired results. He added that the committee had been formed to ensure that polio is eradicated from the twin cities completely, particularly by launching an effective campaign in high-risk areas located adjacent to Islamabad and Rawalpindi, so that this menace could be eliminated completely from the twin cities.

He further said that IMC will be deputing 387 workers in the upcoming drive, instead of the regular 280 workers.

During the upcoming campaign, he said that they had also increased the number of female polio workers to make sure all areas are covered.

The mayor further added that they had decided to hire people on 243 posts in the polio workforce after the move was approved. He explained that the hiring will permanently resolve the issue of human resource shortages in the polio campaign. To enhance the reach of the campaign, Aziz said that they had decided to reach out to elected representatives from the twin cities to engage the public. These elected representatives, the mayor said, have been told to ensure that every child of up to five years of age in their respective constituency is immunised.

Earlier this month, a report from the international polio watchdog — the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — noted that effectiveness of health workers in a place like Islamabad was limited. The report had also identified the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as a ‘third hotspot’ where the virus had found a new home.

“Isolates from Islamabad and Rawalpindi mean that there is transmission outside the core polio reservoirs, the report noted, adding that the transmission ‘ping-pong’ between the twin cities and extends to adjoining areas,” it noted. The Pakistan Polio Programme leadership too had described Islamabad as, “Our Achilles heel for some time now”.

The polio programme, the report said, has not been reaching around 11 slums in the capital. Despite efforts, it observed that the virus has stubbornly persisted among in Islamabad and neighbouring Rawalpindi. Wednesday’s meeting was also attended by IMC Chief Metropolitan Officer (CMO) Asad Mehboob Kiyani, Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal, Officers of ICT, CDA Admin Director General Nadeem Akbar Malik, Health Services Director General Dr Hasan Urooj and officers of other formations.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2017.