Vaccinate yourself: ‘Govt needs to get serious about polio’

KARACHI:

If the government doesn't get serious about polio now, the situation is only going to get worse in the next couple of months, said doctors and office bearers of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).

They added that the government needs to tackle the crisis with proper planning.

This was being discussed at a press conference held at the PMA House on Friday. The doctors urged the government to announce which locations were no-go areas — localities where the cases were being reported from frequently. "The areas have been identified and it is not a hard task to accomplish," said PMA's Dr Mirza Ali Azhar. "Political will is very important to overcome this crisis."

According to Dr Azhar, medical experts had been telling the government that the way they were dealing with the polio drives would not bring about any positive changes. He said that it seemed like the government was in a weak position and was begging for time from the World Health Organisation.

To date 59 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan. This includes 46 cases from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, nine from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and four from Sindh. "The PMA believes that there is no dearth of money, shortage of vaccines or crisis of man power. At the moment there is complete chaos and confusion," said Dr Azhar. He added that people were running from pillar to post to get vaccinated and obtain certificates.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2014.