Punjab warily marks polio-free year

Two outbreak response, eight maintenance dist to be focused in 2024

LAHORE:

Punjab completed the year 2023 without a polio case, but the officials concerned remain on their toes because of the detection of the virus in environmental samples and instances of the disease reported from other provinces.

The polio vaccination campaigns launched throughout the year achieved an aggregate coverage of more than 100 per cent, Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal stated on Monday.

However, he admitted that nine environmental samples collected from Lahore (six) and Rawalpindi (three) had tested positive for the virus. “The positivity rate of environmental samples stood at 3% in 2023 as compared to 4% in 2022, down by one percentage point. The difference is more notable if compared to 2020 when the environmental samples positivity rate had risen to 58%,” he said.

The coordinator said the successful implementation of anti-polio campaigns had helped ensure that samples from most environmental sites had tested negative.

Explaining the plans for the coming year, the EOC head outlined that based on the programme risk categorisation, two ‘outbreak response districts’ in Punjab would be accorded the highest priority in the polio eradication efforts. “On account of risk factors, including importation, the Punjab EOC will also be focusing on an additional eight districts from the maintenance category -- Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Mianwali, Layyah and Muzaffargarh,” he said.

The EOC coordinator reiterated that Punjab was taking concrete steps to improve the quality of campaigns and coverage of the high-risk mobile population at transit points. “Movement of the population between a core reservoir and Punjab is a major cause of virus importation into the province. Punjab has set up transit vaccination points to immunise cross-border and inter-provincial populations in efforts to eradicate polio,” he underscored.

Khizer Afzaal elaborated that the priority populations living in the province permanently or on an ad hoc basis held the key to sustaining Punjab’s polio-free status. The programme was engaging more women and language-appropriate vaccinators to communicate with such populations, he added.

Considering the criticality of such population groups and risk as well as the vulnerability involved, Punjab’s communication workers were extensively working to register, map and profile high-risk mobile community members entering the province so that all children are vaccinated during the campaigns, observed the coordinator.

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Recalling key strategies that had worked in 2023 and key focus areas in 2024, he said that to ensure that every child under five years of age was reached during the campaigns, the Punjab EOC and district authorities had implemented zero and locked houses validation in high-risk districts; while evening revisits for children found unavailable and vaccination points at local doctors’ clinics during catch-up days had increased the coverage of the vulnerable target population.

He said regular reviews before and after the campaigns, as well as provincial and district-level monitoring and validation plans led by the EOC had enhanced the quality of the campaigns and data authenticity.

The EOC head stressed that Punjab was proactively working on strengthening the essential immunisation. “Monitoring of activities are supported by the PEI staff. In addition to monitoring, the health department has leveraged polio teams to identify and vaccinate due/defaulters in Lahore and Faisalabad, respectively,” he said.

The Punjab government, through the health department, ensures the safety and security of the frontline workers.

They have also pledged to make all efforts to provide essential support to the workers and facilitate them against challenges, he said. “We acknowledge the hard work of our resilient and brave workers who are determined to protect every child in the province from the crippling virus and together we will soon achieve the goal of eradication in Pakistan,” he resolved.

The provincial EOC coordinator said 2024 was the year when the country aimed to interrupt transmission of poliovirus and the goal was being steadily pursued.