Delayed hiring: 49 EPI posts vacant for last six months

USAID technical support extended for reform expected to last till September

ISLAMABAD: At least 49 posts have been lying vacant for the last six months in an obvious shortage of human resource at the federal Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

Posts have not been filled since the entire EPI team was removed earlier this year. The team was found guilty of the loss of pentavalent vaccines worth $1.3 million stored in the federal EPI.

The incident was reported in February this year and after a thorough investigation the entire EPI team from senior officials to storekeepers was removed.

Soon after the incident, USAID extended its technical support worth $1.5 million to federal health for the immediate reform of the EPI. The offer for support was accepted.

An official in the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) on the condition of anonymity said there was a dire need to hire for the vacant posts. USAID extended its support only till September, he shared. After this the EPI will have to run affairs on its own. Without human resource it would not be easy to perform the required task properly, said the official.

The official said earlier the incident of vaccine wastage took place due to chronic mismanagement.

When contacted the National Manager EPI Dr Saqlain Gillani said that the hiring of the required employees from grade-1 to 18 was in process.

He said names of candidates had been shortlisted and sent to the federal health ministry to schedule a time and date to conduct interviews. Sharing details he said the delay has been caused due to the PC-1 of EPI which expired this June 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2015.