Sindh government forms Gujro UC anti-polio task force

All efforts will be made to eradicate polio on priority basis from the high-risk UC, says commissioner

KARACHI: In view of the concern shown by international and national experts over failure to eradicate polio virus in the vicinity of Gujro union council (UC), the Sindh government has formed a Gujro UC Anti-Polio Task Force, with Karachi Commissioner as the chairman, along with representatives of World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International, officials of the health department, Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) , Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, East deputy commissioner, and Gujro assistant commissioner. Malir Additional Deputy Commissioner Shujaat Hussain has been assigned to work as the coordinator of the Gujro Task Force.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shalwani, chairing the first meeting of the task force, stressed the need to work with close coordination and make all efforts on priority basis for the eradication of polio virus from the Gujro UC.

He said that polio eradication was a national cause and it would be the top priority of the government to carry out efforts to eliminate the virus from the city.

The meeting was attended by the Sindh Emergency Operation Centre Provincial Coordinator Umar Farooq Bullo, East Deputy Commissioner Ali Ahmed Siddiqui, Gujro Polio Task Force Coordinator Shujaat Hussain, officials of police and Pakistan Rangers.

The commissioner said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the city administration to take special steps eradicate the crippling virus from Gujro UC. He said that the Sindh government has set up the task force so that special focus could be made to eradicate polio from the high-risk union council.

The commissioner hoped that the members of the task force will play their due role to fulfill their responsibilities and would go the extra mile for the eradication of polio.

It was informed in the meeting that 66 polio cases have been discovered during the period from 2008-18 .  Out of these, 22 polio cases were from Gadap Town, while 12 cases were from Gujro UC, which is the highest in any union council in the city. Presently, there is only one reported case from this UC.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2018.