ISLAMABAD: After Sindh and Balochistan, alarm bells have begun to sound in Punjab also as the province realises that the poliovirus could spread in the remote parts of the province.

Punjab Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique suggested that the priority list of high-risk districts for 2015 should be revised and that Rahim Yar Khan, D.G. Khan and Rajanpur should be designated as the most at-risk districts.

Attending a high-level meeting at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Islamabad, Mr Rafiq said that due to the ongoing circulation of the virus in northern Sindh and parts of Balochistan bordering south Punjab, these districts should be declared high-risk areas.

He also admitted that there was an increase in the migrant and mobile population moving from high-risk areas, but there was low EPI coverage in those areas, as compared to other parts of the Punjab.

He also suggested the introduction of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in Punjab. The checking of environmental samples from Rahim Yar Khan was also recommended by him.

IPV is an injectable vaccine which creates resistance in a child against the disease and if a child receives an IPV injection, the chances of him/her contracting the disease drop to negligible levels. But even though inoculated children are immune to the poliovirus themselves, they are still at risk of becoming a carrier of the disease. Moreover, IPVs are very costly as compared to oral polio vaccine (OPVs).

EPI Sindh Project Director Dr Mazhar Khamisani told the meeting that in Karachi, a large number of inoculation campaigns were being conducted.

Dr Khamisani briefed the participants on the Sindh Polio Programme, saying they had requested 700 security personnel to conduct synchronised polio campaigns in Karachi’s high-risk union councils, but despite several commitments, security officials could still not be deputed to escort polio teams.

Balochistan Health Secretary Dr Noor Baloch stressed that repeated campaigns had compromised the quality of polio campaigns in the province and in the National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication 2015, focus should be on the quality of campaigns instead of quantity. He added that convergence between routine immunisation and polio eradication programmes should be strengthened.

EPI Deputy Director for Federally Administered Tribal Areas Dr Sahibzada Khalid recommended focusing on fixed sites in Fata to increase routine immunisation and polio vaccination. Independent monitoring should be conducted for evaluation, he added.

The meeting, chaired by Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, agreed to finalise the plan after provincial inputs by end of the current month.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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