State of health: Eliminating polio a daunting task: Nishtar

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker federal minister and focal person on health Dr Sania Nishtar on Tuesday said the international community has reacted strongly to the killings of polio workers in Pakistan and its failure to eradicate polio.

Briefing the media on her return from WHO’s 66th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Dr Nishtar said the country was facing daunting challenges in eliminating the disease, including accessibility and parents’ increasing refusal to the anti-polio vaccine. The minister said she informed the international community about reduction in polio cases by 70 per cent in 2012 and 50 per cent to date in 2013 in Pakistan.

The global health community appreciated the numbers and offered their condolences on the tragic killings of the health workers, she added.

On the sidelines of the assembly, the minister held several bilateral meetings with health officials of international government and non-government agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2013.