73,000 mosques to serve as centres for routine immunisation. PHOTO: AFP
The Pakistan Ulema Council — a prominent religious body in the country — has offered its network of 73,000 mosques as centres to carry out routine immunisation.
Sources said that the assurance came during a meeting between Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi and Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq on Thursday.
During the meeting, Ashrafi requested for logistic support from the federal health ministry for establishing these centres. Ashrafi said that one room in each mosque will be designated for the said purpose where health workers and religious leaders will work in close coordination to make national immunisation programmes a success.
Ashrafi said that the initiative will also help counter refusals by parents to administer vaccines of polio and other preventable diseases.
Welcoming the suggestion, Farooq said that she will take up the matter with the federal health ministry, international partner organisations and other stakeholders before making any commitment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2015.
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