PESHAWAR: The federal government’s failure to restore the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell despite the prime minister’s orders is likely to adversely effect the government’s efforts to eradicate polio in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), according to officials.

The cell was established in 2011 for the accountability of those related to countrywide anti-polio efforts.

However, the current caretaker government in the centre abolished it last month.

After a hue and cry by the UN agencies, the caretaker prime minister ordered the cell’s restoration a few days ago but the orders await implementation.

According to the officials, the cell was established to fulfill the guidelines laid down in the National Polio Emergency Plan 2011 to contain polio cases by monitoring field work and taking action against lax officials.

“Despite the prime minister’s orders, the supervisory and monitoring body (Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell) has yet to be restored affecting the polio campaigns, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, which together have reported eight of the 12 countrywide polio cases this year,” said an official.

The official said the cell had been created after the country reported 198 polio cases in 2011 and the move cut the number to 58 the very next year.

He said the cell had played an instrumental role in the success of polio campaigns after the decentralisation of the health ministry in line with the 18th Constitutional Amendment in April 2010.

According to him, the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell coordinated with the provinces through one focal person in each of the provincial capitals reporting to the cell.

Also, the cell facilitated the transition of polio efforts among provinces but facilitated the roles to the district administrations assigned to them by the prime minister’s office regarding polio campaigns in their respective areas.

“Due to the tremendous administrative support of the cell, we have been vaccinating children despite threats and assassination of health workers. The cell should be restored as provinces are facing problems in procurement of oral polio vaccine and managing administrative affairs,” said an official involved in the vaccination at district level.

The officials said the role of the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell was like an umbrella for all provinces, which received technical and logistic assistance besides critical information from it.

They said the situation had become extremely dangerous as the provinces had faced problems of vaccines in previous campaigns due to non-existence of the cell and that situation could snowball into a major crisis.

“The centre also notified every confirmed case to provinces along with all information, like how many doses he had received or he hadn’t received any vaccine due to refusals. That gives us an idea about the situation,” a senior polio coordinator in the province said.

He also said data collected and weaknesses found during anti-polio campaigns and issuance of guidelines to the provinces were the tasks performed by the cell with the services of a few vaccinations experts.

The polio coordinator said the cell received reports from all provinces and the cell coordinator reported polio situation directly to the prime minister.

Other officials said according to the plan, authorities had to carry to rapid response campaign in any district that report cases but in several instances, districts had not been getting OPV at the right time.

They said the abolition of Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell had irked donor agencies, who had been collaborating with Pakistan since 1994 when polio vaccination was launched.

The officials said donors had asked the government to restore it immediately.

“A verbal directive by the prime minister has yet to be translated into writing,” an official said.