Govt issues strict directions that certificates be issued to travellers free of cost, places orders for 1m more. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government on Wednesday dispatched 327,000 polio vaccination certificates to the provinces and to hospitals at the federal level, with instructions that they be provided to prospective travellers free of cost upon receiving polio drops.
Talking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, an official of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) said that in addition to 327,000 certificates sent to the provinces, the ministry had ordered the printing of one million more certificates.
Sharing details of the dispatched certificates, the official said 100,000 have been sent to Punjab, 40,000 to Sindh, 30,000 to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 10,000 to Balochistan and 5,000 each to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
At the federal level, 20,000 certificates have been provided to the armed forces, 10,000 have been provided to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims) and 5,000 each to the Polyclinic and the National Institute of Rehabilitative Medicine (NIRM), he said. Another 150,000 certificates will be provided to the Ministry of Religious Affairs later for issuance to all pilgrims intending to go for Hajj this year, he added.
According to the official, the template for the polio vaccination certificates has also been provided to the provinces for further use.
“All provincial governments have been directed to get polio certificates printed themselves after the batch of certificates they have been provided is depleted. They have also been strictly directed to make sure people are not charged for these certificates,” he said.
He added that the NHSRC ministry has also written a letter to the Sindh government, asking it to probe reports that some officials of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Sindh were involved in the sale of polio vaccination certificates at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.
“Only the officials of federal health ministry are authorised to issue polio vaccination cards at all international airports of the country. It is their responsibility to provide these certificates free of cost after administering polio drops.”
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Member National Assembly Ramesh Kumar said he had pointed out the EPI officials who were charging international travellers Rs100 for vaccination certificates at Karachi airport’s polio counter – which functions under the federal health ministry.
“I have also requested the Karachi airport manager to provide CCTV footage to find out who these officials were and also asked federal EPI officials to probe into the matter, but so far I have not heard a word from them,” he added.
Polio vaccine procurement
Responding to a question regarding procurement of polio vaccines for the implementation of strategy for travel restrictions imposed on the country after its failure to curb polio virus from the country, the official of the NHSRC ministry said: “The federal government will get it from the federal EPI for the time being. But if more vaccines are required, then the government will discuss procurement with international donor agencies.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2014.
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