WHO temporarily restores polio workers’ contracts

Workers in 170 high-risk UCs have been retained until Dec 31 after being sacked earlier

HYDERABAD:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has extended the contractual services of union council polio officers (UCPOs) who were made redundant after October 31.

However, the extension of the UCPOs, posted in 170 high-risk UCs in Sindh, has only been made for two months, until December 31 - and that too after the district administrations strongly recommended continuing their services for achieving results in polio immunisation campaigns.

Local authorities had expressed reservations at the discontinuation of the UCPOs and polio eradication officers (PEOs), citing a lack of capability of the district health offices to replace the field staff.

"...reduction in the posts of UCPOs and PEOs is anticipated from the EOC [Emergency Operation Centre], which will only augment the challenge of the poliovirus immensely because the staff has not only acted as whistleblowers but also acted as frontline fighters in every campaign," read a letter written by Hyderabad deputy commissioner Fuad Ghaffar Soomro to the Sindh Emergency Operations Centre for polio coordinator, over a month ago.

During the recent polio immunisation campaign in Hyderabad, held from November 2 to 6, 10 of the 22 UCPOs were engaged on the basis of daily wages, in the capacity of the temporary taluka support person (TTSP).

Responding to their sacking, the UCPOs held demonstrations in several cities, including in Hyderabad.

Sikandar Ali Shoro, a UCPO who led the protest in Hyderabad, claimed that without them, the district administration and the local health authorities would not be able to achieve the desired results from the campaign. "We not only provided crucial support to the health authorities in the polio drives but also remained on the frontline during the Covid-19 pandemic," he asserted.

Another UCPO at the protest, Muhammad Hassan, contended that without an adequate, dedicated team, there was a possibility of further spread of the crippling virus.

Meanwhile, another polio worker, speaking to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, stated that their temporary restoration would not allow the Sindh Health Department to find their replacement.

"The WHO and the Sindh Health Department will have to find a coordinated solution to this issue if the authorities are serious about eradicating this virus, which remains a huge challenge for Pakistan," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2020.