The National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) Ministry has once again appointed Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar to head the federal Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). Dr Safdar has said that he will focus on improving interprovincial coordination to achieve better results.
Dr Safdar, the chief epidemiologist at the National Institute of Health (NIH), assumed charge as national programme manager EPI on Saturday. He was first appointed to the position in September 2013, but five months into the job, he resigned due to personal reasons and Dr Ejaz Khan, who was EPI surveillance director at the time, replaced him.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Safdar said he had accepted the position on the request of the NHSRC Ministry.
Meanwhile, an NHSRC official said the ministry was searching for a professional health expert to fill the vacant post since February. In the end, the ministry requested Dr Safdar to take charge again, said the official.
Pakistan is currently facing numerous challenges due to poor routine immunisation coverage, with deaths of unvaccinated children due to preventable diseases becoming commonplace.
The official further said that since the devolution of the Health Ministry under the 18th Amendment, the EPI was facing further challenges due to confusion between the federal EPI and the provincial EPIs regarding their roles and responsibilities.
“Though it has almost been three years, confusion still persists between the provincial and federal EPIs on various issues,” he said.
After June 2015 the federal EPI will be stop getting funds and all the responsibilities will be shifted to the provinces, “Which they are not yet ready for,” said the official.
“One of the major areas where provinces lack capacity is vaccine procurement. They still depend on the federal EPI,” said the official.
The official said the EPI programme was suffering because the government was more focused on polio eradication. He said the government was investing all the human resources and time it could afford to.
“Though the polio eradication programme and EPI are running separately but share same human recourse who throughout the year remain busy with anti-polio drives and do not get time for any other campaign,” said the official.
“There is a serious issue of data collection. Most of the data regarding reported cases of vaccine-preventable diseases from all over the country is misleading,” said the official.
“There is a huge gap in the management information system, which needs to be addressed to get a clear picture of what is going on in the country. Accurate data will help formulate policies based on reality,” he said.
Dr Safdar said that his main focus would be on improving the information system, capacity building of provinces, and improving coordination between the federal EPI and the provinces.
Measles cases
A Punjab Health Department official said that this year, 33 suspected cases of measles had been reported in Rawalpindi District, 22 of which later tested positive.
The official said the cases were reported from separate areas, so it was not a localised outbreak and still poses a threat.
The official said that when schools would reopen in August, the remaining part of the EPI campaign for Rawalpindi district would be carried. It had been suspended in June to give preference to an anti-polio drive.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2014.
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