ISLAMABAD: National Health Services Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said at a meeting in Britain on Tuesday that had Pakistan not taken steps to curb polio virus, the number of cases this year would have reached 1,000.

The meeting of Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Polio was held to discuss the crippling disease and devise a strategy to eliminate the virus from across the world.

The IMB works on behalf of international donor agencies and releases six-monthly reports on the performance of countries to contain the virus. In Nov 2012, it had recommended travel restrictions on Pakistan which were enforced on May 5 this year.

On June 2, the IMB released its recommendations for Pakistan, declaring the Prime Minister’s Polio Cell a “shadow boxing entity. It called for setting up a new entity – Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio – before July and said it should be dealt by both the president and the prime minister.

“We are aware of the concern of the international community over the increasing cases of polio in Pakistan. However, we all know that polio exists mostly in the security compromised areas,” Saira Tarar was quoted as saying on the first day of the meeting.

“The security environment in Pakistan is rooted in the geopolitical context and this is the price we continue to pay in our fight against extremism and terrorism. Sixty-four polio team members and policemen guarding them have been killed in the line of duty and 47 others seriously injured,” she said.

The minister said that as recommended at the last IMB meeting, the EOC had been set up. It will significantly improve coordination and strengthen monitoring.

“The government of Pakistan has invested necessary human and financial resources in the programme. The government has approved the $326 million PC-I for polio emergency to sustain eradication activities till 2018,” she said.

“The flash floods have seriously affected over 70 per cent of Punjab, the country’s largest province. Despite this, it has been decided that polio eradication campaigns will continue and there will be no disruption,” the minister said.

The prime minister’s focal person for polio, MNA Ayesha Raza, briefed the meeting on the current situation of polio in Pakistan and steps taken by the government.

She said the campaign was facing challenges because of insurgency, militancy and law and order situation in the country. She said new activities and plans had been finalised to restrict polio virus during low transmission season.

Ms Raza said Pakistan was fully committed to the cause of polio eradication and the international community must realise the situation and work as a team to achieve the goal.

When asked what the global community could do to help Pakistan cope with the intense pressure being exerted here for polio eradication, she said the targets being set for Pakistan should be realistic given “our peculiar geopolitical situation and active militancy and security issues”.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014