July 05, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 1, 1429

KARACHI, July 4: The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the eradication of polio, in a follow-up of decisions reached during its last meeting in the city, has planned a special immunisation campaign for the high-risk areas in the last week of July.

National manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation Dr H.B. Memon told Dawn on Friday that one extra sub-national immunisation round using monovalent oral polio vaccine (OPV1) had been scheduled from July 28 to 30 in selective areas of the country.

He said the entire Sindh and all the high-risk areas of other provinces, particularly the southern districts of Punjab, would be covered during the three-day campaign.

During the TAG meeting held in Karachi on June 24 and 25, it was observed that the prevalence of Type 1 wild polio virus transmission in Sindh showed some operational lacunae rather than technical flaws in the polio eradication campaigns, the manager said in reply to a question.

Dr Memon said he and some high-ups in the provincial health department had recently been to the interior of Sindh to witness the administration of polio vaccine to children and ensure credible monitoring of field work.

A source privy to the TAG meeting, meanwhile, disclosed that some local and foreign experts had noted that the defects were related to non-immunisation of some children in successive rounds of each campaign, which showed the poor supervision and reporting of performance in some districts of Sindh.

“The problems in question as summarised by the TAG were persistent, insufficient ownership of polio eradication in Sindh and inconsistent accountability by responsible officials at all levels,” the source said.

The experts believed that community involvement in the immunisation campaigns was still inadequate, which largely reflected the lack of understanding and commitment to polio eradication, both by the people in the higher-risk target areas and the health officials concerned at all levels.

“This problem in polio eradication is even more acute in promoting routine immunisation, which remains highly unsatisfactory. Its absence is a major causative factor, increasing the difficulty in achieving both polio eradication and child survival from other dangerous diseases,” it is stated in a relevant assessment report, which adds that the stated commitment and declared ownership of polio eradication in Sindh must be translated into effective action.

The revival of the provincial steering committee headed by the chief secretary, creation of similar committees at the district level under the respective DCOs, and other concrete actions have been recommended to ensure that missed out communities, children, services to minority groups and other defects are effectively tackled.

The TAG, according to a source, observed that the only basis for a confirmed receipt of vaccine was finger marking and laid emphasis on administration of polio drops to children in streets, markets and other places.