KARACHI, Sept 16: The Sindh health secretary (prevention and public health), Dr Abdul Majid, has reaffirmed the government commitment to eradicate polio virus from the province by the end of this year.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Unicef Technical Group of Communication here on Saturday evening.

Dr Majid said that the provincial health department had ensured the involvement of general physicians in the ongoing TB-DOTS programme and had also been making efforts to ensure their participation in the fight against polio.

Speaking about the oral polio vaccine (OPV), he said that the repeated administration of these vaccines to children up to five strengthened their immunity against this crippling disease.

The meeting, largely attended by members of the Pakistan Paediatric Association, Unicef ambassadors for polio eradication in Pakistan, local journalists and other medical professionals, discussed measures which would help eradicate polio.

UNICEF Ambassadors Mani and Azfar (TV artistes), stressed the need for the involvement of religious scholars in the efforts against polio. Another participant of the meeting suggested incorporation of chapters about the importance of OPV and immunisation days in the textbooks.

The president of the Pakistan Paediatric Association, Prof Inkisar Ali, said the association had been holding seminars and workshops for its members and general physicians on a regular basis so as to highlight the importance of the oral polio vaccines.

Dr Asif Aslam of Unicef-Sindh and Dr Salma Kauser Ali of EPI- Sindh and Prof Iqbal Memon highlighted the importance of routine immunisation of children in the country.—APP