Eliminating polio: Lack of data obstructing eradication efforts

Health official says no information on children missed in high-risk UCs.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lacks accurate data on the number of children living in 497 high-risk union councils (UC) for administering polio drops due to which it is unable to formulate strategies to reach overlooked children.

This was revealed by a senior official working with the polio eradication programme on the condition of anonymity. He said it is shocking that the government lacks accurate data on the source of poliovirus’ spread across the country.

“Pakistan cannot wipe out polio without vaccinating every child under five,” said the official.

It is embarrassing that the international community is unhappy with the coverage of routine immunisation in Pakistan and has expressed concern that three million children are being missed and dying of vaccine preventable diseases, said the official.

On the other hand, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordniation Saira Afzal Tarar, while chairing a meeting on Friday, said there is a need to revise micro plans of high-risk UCs to get accurate details about children so strategies could be formulated to counter the issue.

The meeting was held to review recommendations of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on polio, said a press release.

TAG, which met on February 14-15, 2015 in Islamabad, comprises global experts on polio who reviewed all aspects of Pakistan’s polio programme in detail and issued specific recommendations to improve the present situation.

“There was a need to vigorously track missed children and concentrate human resource in areas with missed children,” she said.

Talking about the missed children, she said “To this end, we require credible data and independent analysis.”

The minister tasked officials of the World Health Organization and Unicef to work closely with the district polio eradication committees and update micro plans by March 10.

Highlighting the importance of monitoring, the minister said we need to institute strong intra and post campaign monitoring. It was important to know the campaign progress on real-time basis to allow for immediate corrective measures and interventions, she shared.

“Time is vital and we only have the window of eight weeks to get maximum advantage of the low transmission season,” she said.

She informed that federal health officials will soon visit all the provinces to discuss gaps in campaign quality and highlight the ‘critical’ importance of implementing TAG’s recommendations.

While appreciating the overall improvement of campaign quality, the minister expressed concern when informed about the sub-optimal campaign quality in districts of Northern Sindh, Southern Punjab and Northern Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2015.