PM polio cell to function under EPI
For the first time ever, the cell will function according to its original legal framework.
For the first time ever, the cell will function according to its original legal framework. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
For the first time ever, Prime Minister's Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell will function according to its original legal framework under the supervision of a government official.
As per its legal framework, National Programme Manager of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) who is the government employee is now going to head the cell, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC).
"It has been decided that the EPI’s National Programme Manager will preside all weekly meetings of the National Steering Committee on Polio Eradication and act as ex-officio National Coordinator for Polio Eradication as per previous practice," says the notification issued under the subject 'Streamlining Affairs of PM Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell'.
Talking to The Express Tribune, an unnamed senior NHSRC ministry official said the cell, since its inception in 2011, was headed by Dr Altaf Boson who was not even a government employee.
Sharing the details, the official said that in 2012, Dr Boson took a two-year leave and started working as a focal person for polio eradication with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. However, even after taking leave from government, he continued using the title of National Coordinator for the Prime Minister's Polio Cell, in clear violation of the rules.
"It is hoped that the initiative would help strengthen the cell which was devolved by the caretaker government. The present government has reinstated the cell but it has failed to get back to its previous authority and position," confided the official.
“The cell is no more based in the PM Secretariat. It has been shifted to the EPI building in the National Institute of Health (NIH), Chak Shehzad,” he added.
"It is unfortunate that while there is an upsurge in the number of polio cases in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, the cell is unable to function effectively," said the official.
One of the key positions, earlier held by Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, has been lying vacant since March and the NHSRC Minister Saira Afzal Tarrar, who is looking after health departments, has sent her name to the Prime Minister for this position, the official added.
Talking to The Express Tribune, EPI National Programme Manager Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, who has assumed charge as the national coordinator of the cell, said all-out efforts would be made to strengthen the cell and overcome the challenges it faced.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2013.
For the first time ever, Prime Minister's Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell will function according to its original legal framework under the supervision of a government official.
As per its legal framework, National Programme Manager of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) who is the government employee is now going to head the cell, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC).
"It has been decided that the EPI’s National Programme Manager will preside all weekly meetings of the National Steering Committee on Polio Eradication and act as ex-officio National Coordinator for Polio Eradication as per previous practice," says the notification issued under the subject 'Streamlining Affairs of PM Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell'.
Talking to The Express Tribune, an unnamed senior NHSRC ministry official said the cell, since its inception in 2011, was headed by Dr Altaf Boson who was not even a government employee.
Sharing the details, the official said that in 2012, Dr Boson took a two-year leave and started working as a focal person for polio eradication with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. However, even after taking leave from government, he continued using the title of National Coordinator for the Prime Minister's Polio Cell, in clear violation of the rules.
"It is hoped that the initiative would help strengthen the cell which was devolved by the caretaker government. The present government has reinstated the cell but it has failed to get back to its previous authority and position," confided the official.
“The cell is no more based in the PM Secretariat. It has been shifted to the EPI building in the National Institute of Health (NIH), Chak Shehzad,” he added.
"It is unfortunate that while there is an upsurge in the number of polio cases in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, the cell is unable to function effectively," said the official.
One of the key positions, earlier held by Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, has been lying vacant since March and the NHSRC Minister Saira Afzal Tarrar, who is looking after health departments, has sent her name to the Prime Minister for this position, the official added.
Talking to The Express Tribune, EPI National Programme Manager Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, who has assumed charge as the national coordinator of the cell, said all-out efforts would be made to strengthen the cell and overcome the challenges it faced.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2013.