PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became the second province after Balochistan to lend high-level administrative support to the vaccination programme as the provincial government on Friday appointed Mohammad Akbar Khan, a BPS-20 DMG officer, as coordinator of the polio Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to coordinate vaccination efforts in the province.

It is for the first time that a senior bureaucrat has been tasked to lead the immunisation efforts. Mr Khan remained acting EOC’s coordinator for a few months last year in his capacity as special secretary health, but now he would work as a full-time coordinator.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), a body that makes recommendations regarding global polio eradication campaign, had asked the government last year to establish EOCs in the provinces and at the federal level on Nigeria’s model to help eradicate polio. KP had established the centre in July 2014.

The EOCs, which were formed last year in all provinces and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), remained without coordinators due to which their performance wasn’t up to the desired level.

Step taken to ensure better coordination among different stakeholders

The IMB has been asking the government to appoint regular heads for EOCs.

Polio vaccination has no longer been a health issue as education, police and security forces besides the UN agencies and other donor organisations are involved in the vaccination of children and activities of all these stakeholders need sustained coordination.

The centre was earlier headed by special secretary health on acting basis due to which he couldn’t spare enough time from more pressing official work. The appointment of a BPS-20 DMG officer shows the political commitment on the part of the provincial government, which has recently been appreciated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – the main donor in worldwide polio eradication campaign – for Sehat Ka Ittehad (alliance for health) vaccination campaign in the KP and adjacent Fata.

The centre was established to fully coordinate and synergise the anti-polio efforts of government, WHO, Unicef and other partner organisations. Previously, they worked from their respective offices located far away from each other. The centre has provided them one office, but a leader was needed to spearhead the effort.

The donor agencies want the government in lead role, especially in KP and Fata, which accounted for 85 per cent of the worldwide polio cases in 2014. The Sehat Ka Ittehad campaign covers 17 districts, including 12 in KP and five in Fata. Both accounted for 90 per cent polio incidence last year. Fata and KP has 21 cases in 2015 so far compared to 44 in the corresponding period last year due to better quality vaccination under the banner of SKI.

The full-time coordinator will work under the chief secretary, who will have full administrative control of all the immunisation-related activities. The prime minister has also asked the provinces to appoint regular coordinator of the respective centres as the government has to respond to the IMB’s meeting due in April. The federal government, Punjab and Sindh are yet to appoint regular officers as the centre’s coordinators.

The board has been asking the PM’s office to spearhead the anti-polio efforts and appoint regular coordinators to curb polio cases.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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