US disease control agency discusses immunisation capacity

Kiani says preventive health measures a priority of PTI govt

Immunisation and primary healthcare are the priorities of the health policies of the PTI government said Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Aamer Mehmood Kiani.

He was talking to a mission of Center for Disease Control (CDC) . They held an in-depth discussion about capacity needs for routine immunisation at the country level.

CDC is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kiani, while sharing the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, said that strengthening the health system with specific focus on preventive and primary health measures is the priority area of the government.

In this regard, the government is making all efforts to improve the immunisation system and service delivery for increasing coverage and reaching all eligible children. “We believe that strengthening the immunisation system of the country is a step that will take us towards achieving the universal health coverage goal,” said Kiani while sharing his remarks.

The mission was on a visit to Pakistan from January 21-24, 2019. During the visit, the mission met with the Government of Pakistan, the EPI Programme, WHO, UNICEF and relevant US Mission stakeholders to conduct landscape analysis of in-country partners and Government of Pakistan to determine what additional technical support could be offered, the specific focus of such support and how best to utilise it.

The mission members include CDC Global Immunisation Division Director Dr William Schluter; CDC Deputy Director Virginia Swezy and CDC Pakistan Country Director Ahmed Liban.

The mission intended to assess the need in the planning and implementation of routine immunisation activities. Pakistan is one of the six priority countries for the Measles and Rubella Initiative (MRI) and CDC has resolved to provide in-country technical support to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2019.