ISLAMABAD: While the government’s attention has been focused on political matters, another challenge looms ahead with the meeting of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) on Polio, scheduled for April 24.

This is the first time provinces have also been invited to the meeting by the IMB.

The IMB works on behalf of the international donor agencies and issues reports on the performance of countries in combating polio, every six months. In 2012, the IMB suggested international travel restrictions for Pakistan, which were implemented by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last year. Pakistan has failed to implement other recommendations of the IMB.

However, the head of the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio Dr Rana Safdar appeared confident and claimed that many positive steps have been taken by the government and these are likely to satisfy the IMB.

Read: Lost — The battle against polio

An NHS Ministry official, requesting anonymity, said Pakistan had repeatedly failed to implement the IMB’s recommendations and had not handed over the polio programme to the NDMA.

“The IMB is a very influential body and may recommend extending travel restrictions for Pakistanis. Health departments must make preparations to satisfy the IMB,” he said.

The official said the IMB had invited provincial authorities to give their input which suggests more changes in the future. The last meeting was held in the United Kingdom but the April meeting will be held in the United Arab Emirates only to facilitate provincial authorities, he said.

In the recommendations issued by the IMB on June 2, 2014, the Prime Minister’s Polio Cell was declare a ‘shadow boxing entity’. The IMB recommended the establishment of a new entity called the ‘Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio’ before July 1, 2014. It was also recommended that the new entity be dealt with by both the president and prime minister.

However, the IMB’s recommendation regarding the establishment of the EOC was not implemented. In October 2014 IMB released another report suggesting that instead of establishing the EOC, the entire polio programme should now be handed over to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Pakistan’s efforts in combating the spread of poliovirus were called a ‘disaster’.

A meeting was held in Islamabad where participants, including provincial representatives, agreed that the NDMA does have the capacity or the mandate to organise health campaigns.

In December 2014, the EOC was established ignoring the latest recommendation of the IMB.

In 2014, the number of reported polio cases crossed 300, the highest number in 16 years. On March 4, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced, through its website, that international travel restrictions had been extended for another three months because Pakistan had exported the virus to Afghanistan.

When contacted, Dr Rana Safdar said that there is no doubt about the importance of the IMB meeting. “Not a single polio case has been reported in Nigeria in the last seven months, so the IMB’s main focus will be on Pakistan,” he said.

He said the provincial authorities have been invited by the IMB because the board wants firsthand information about the situation in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta.

In response to a question, Mr Safdar said the IMB has not given the polio programme to the NDMA because the health department is in a better position to tackle to spread of poliovirus.

“We have improved our performance over the last year and the international opinion of Pakistan’s polio programme is changing. We have reached North Waziristan and high-risk union councils of Karachi and Peshawar,” he said.

“The government of Pakistan would present Pakistan’s case, not any United Nations Agency,” he added.

He said the IMB would be informed that the government’s focus is on children missed by the polio campaign and third party monitoring has been invited to improve transparency.

Published in Dawn March 22nd , 2015

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