KARACHI: While minister of state for national health service, regulation and coordination Saira Afzal Tarar on Wednesday questioned ‘seriousness’ of the Sindh government about eradicating polio from the province, five more cases of the crippling disease emerged from different parts of the country including one from Karachi.

The minister came up with strong reaction to a surge in cases from parts of Sindh and termed the authorities ignorant and non-serious while handling the issue and even fed wrong data to the centre about the prevailing polio situation in the province.

She sought ‘immediate measures and serious efforts’ from the provincial government that proved their willingness to cap the menace.

The federal minister of state is irked by the absence of the provincial health minister from the meeting

“The Sindh government unfortunately doesn’t look serious,” she said while addressing a meeting to review plan, measures and results of the anti-polio campaign by the prime minister’s polio task force at the Sindh secretariat, which was chaired by chief secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotiana.

“In some districts of Sindh only six per cent of the total area was covered in vaccination campaign. The authorities here even misguided us in the centre by feeding wrong data on polio that further complicated the situation. I personally believe that if the serious efforts were made by the Sindh government, the situation would have been much better today.”

According to the National Health Institution, five more polio cases have been reported from different parts of the country.

Among the new cases, one each was found in Qila Saifullah in Balochistan, Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Karachi in Sindh, while the virus was detected in two children in Khyber Agency under the Federally Administered Tribal Area.

Eight-month-old Yasir, said to be a resident of Bin Qasim town, is the fresh polio victim in Karachi. The government has already been perturbed over the recent World Health Organisation warning that Karachi is a vital destination to be made polio-free in order to make the rest of the world safe.

The fears echoed in Ms Tarar’s address who was also annoyed by the absence of the Sindh health minister and secretary from the ‘crucial meeting’. The minister mainly mentioned Karachi in her address where majority of the Sindh cases were reported this year.

“This is a do or die situation for us,” she said. “If the situation prevails, I fear it would bring a bad name to Pakistan across the world. So we need to identify weaknesses, plug the gaps and fix them without any compromise and delay. It is so unfortunate to note that routine coverage that was 37 per cent in 2006-07 has now dropped to 29 per cent in Sindh. It has improved even in the province that is worst affected due to fight against terrorism.”

She said that three consecutive and effective vaccination campaigns against the polio virus could definitely help the country win its battle against the crippling disease.

The minister of state was not much convinced with the point raised by the home minister that Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons were the main source of the virus in Karachi, as she said that particular issue was faced by every province but the situation in Sindh was worsening fast.

Among others, the meeting was also attended by Shahnaz Wazir Ali, member of the core committee against eradication of polio, Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Sindh polio task force member Azra Fazal Pechuho, special health secretary Dr Khalid Shaikh, and Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

Dr Pechuho briefed the state minister about performance of the government and future planning for anti-polio campaign. “I suggest a special relief package for Karachi where there is constant influx of people from other parts of the country,” she said. “The cases we identified in different UCs of Karachi were inhabited by the poorest of the poor sections of society where even drinking water is not available.”

She also referred to problems faced during vaccination campaigns which included timely availability of police force to provide security cover to workers. She also discussed arrangements for the upcoming special campaign in 11 high risk union councils of Karachi in close coordination with the commissioner, deputy commissioners and the police authorities.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2014