ISLAMABAD: As the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) took steps for the eradication of poliovirus and declared an expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) emergency, the ministry of national health services on Friday came up with its own plans against the crippling disease.

KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who was in Islamabad on Friday, not only announced his government’s decision to declare the EPI emergency in the province but also formed a special task force to eradicate the virus.

He ordered the officials concerned to submit him recommendations, within one week, to tackle the issue.

Mr Khattak made the announcements while meeting a delegation of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI).

The delegation, led by Chief Executive Officer of GAVI Dr Seth Berkeley, included global and regional leaderships of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Unicef, USAID, the Department for International Development (DFID), UK, World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.

On the other hand, Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar held a meeting to review the recommendations of the technical advisory group (TAG) on polio and announced to fully implement the recommendations.

The TAG, comprising world renowned experts on polio, met in Islamabad on February 14-15 and reviewed all the aspects of Pakistan’s polio programme. It also issued specific recommendations to improve the situation.

According to an official statement, the minister said the focus should be on the missed children and for that credible data and independent analysis were required.

There has to be a revision of the micro plans of the 497 high risk union councils in the country to get the accurate number of children so that plans and strategies can be devised to reach them, she added.

The minister asked the WHO and Unicef officials to closely work with the district polio eradication committees and update the micro plans by the March 10.

“Time is vital and we have only eight weeks to get the maximum advantages of the low transmission season. We will soon be visiting the provinces to discuss the gaps in the campaign quality and highlight the critical importance of implementing the recommendations of TAG with a sense of urgency,” she said.

Published in Dawn February 21th , 2015

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