Meeting reviews anti-polio operations

A meeting to review anti-polio activities being carried out in south Punjab and discuss future line of action was held here on Friday.

South Punjab Health Secretary Muhammad Iqbal and Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Syedah Ramallah Ali jointly chaired the meeting at the Health Secretariat.

The meeting discussed the problems faced by the health department during anti-polio drives in 2021 and 2022 and devised a future action plan to avoid them.

Coordinator Ramallah underlined the need to maintain proper data regarding missed kids of the districts during the campaigns. She stated that the threat of polio was increasing, adding that anti-polio drops should be administered at entry and exit points of cities.

The PEOC Coordinator directed CEOs of District Health Authorities (DHAs) to ensure the security of polio vaccination teams so that they could perform their duties safely. Ramallah appreciated the efforts of health workers who administered drops in the flood-stricken areas of the province and distributed certificates among them and other workers.

Iqbal termed eradication of the crippling disease as a challenge, saying that it was a priority of the Punjab government to make the province polio-free.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2022.