KARACHI, Feb 7: Appearing frustrated over the performance of anti-polio campaign workers and officers, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Sindh, has urged the high-ups in the provincial health department and City District Government Karachi to take curative measures at the earliest.

A source in the Sindh EPI said that two fresh confirmed polio cases-one in Baldia Town, Karachi, and other in Jacobabad district had upset the EPI authorities. The high-ups note that the emergence of polio virus, which according to them had almost been eliminated in the province, was a source of concern and needed to be addressed to save a huge fund from going down the drain, the source added.

According to a senior health official, 65 rounds of Polio campaigns have been conducted in the province since 1994, but a zero reporting of polio cases is still a far cry. In 2006, 12 confirmed cases were detected in the province, including four at Karachi, two at Sukkur and one each at Noushehro Feroze, Umerkot, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Sanghar.

While maintaining that August to November are largely considered as high risk months from the point of view that polio virus is transmitted during these months, the official said that it was sad to know that in Sindh polio cases for 2007 began right from January. In 2006 no confirm case was reported, while in 2005 there were two cases in January.

In the case of Karachi, the four cases of 2006 were reported from Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town (one), Gadap Town (one) and Korangi Town (two). This year the polio case was reported from Baldia Town as well, while eleven months of the year lie ahead.

It was learnt that the project director of Sindh EPI had requested Nazim of Karachi city to initiate action against those failing to improve their field work and also ensure that executive district officer (health), and town health officers (THOs) and other concerned worked to check the deteriorating performance of polio campaigns in Karachi.

It is said that for every national polio immunisation campaign about Rs7.2 million is spent as operational cost, in addition to Rs500,000 on orientation of the more than 6,000 teams, one million rupees for social mobilisation and another one million for mobility support in Karachi.

Another source said that after an enquiry to verify the situation in the wake of the latest polio case reported from Baldia Town, it was found that the coverage of 2006 of fully immunised children in the town was 68 per cent. The EPI team visited the house of Bismillah, daughter of Habibullah, and confirmed the case of polio, and found that there were 20 children in the house, out of which 19 received polio drops during the national immunisation day. The coverage shown by the THO concerned is considered to be incorrect because out of 20, only one child was fully protected, added the source.

It was further learnt that EPI has also sent letters to the District Nazims of Jacobabad and Khairpur, to take action against the defaulters so that others learn a lesson and do better job. The nazims in question have been informed that polio virus was still present in their respective districts and this had given a bad image to Sindh.

In a correspondence addressed to the Sindh Health department secretary, the EPI project director, had mentioned that efforts were on for the last 27 years for a specific goal, but the outcome remained dismaying. Coverage reports received from executive district health officers and town health officers showed the performance as satisfactory while the factual position was different, she said in her letter.

The secretary has further been told that it was in the interest of Sindh that Triple Vaccine should be used in all drops administering rounds in future to protect the children from P1, P2 and P3 polio viruses. The eight P3 cases that were reported in 2006 were located in the surrounding border provinces.The local campaign support persons (CSPs) are not working properly and they are not reporting correct information, “because they are under the influence of local authorities”, said the project director, calling for a more effective surveillance, supervision and monitoring and adequate and timely supply of vaccines from Islamabad to avert any outbreak of polio in the province.

A highly placed source in the provincial health department said that the high-ups in the government had been monitoring polio related developments keenly and there was a likelihood that some officials at district, town and taluka levels will be taken to task soon.