ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Focus Group for Polio Eradication has urged all stakeholders to gear up their efforts for the final push against the virus. A total of six campaigns will be conducted until May 2016 to eradicate the polio virus.

Additionally, under the Accountability and Performance Management Framework (APMF), commissioners and deputy commissioners will be empowered to give polio teams incentives and make them accountable in case of lapses.

The focus group, which comprises the health federal secretary, provincial chief secretaries, Fata additional chief secretary, National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) director general, a GHQ representative, health director general and the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) coordinator, recently met at the Prime Minister’s Office.

So far, 49 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan this year, as compared to 306 polio cases in 2014. This year, polio cases have been reported from across the country – other than in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Kashmir (AJK) – due to which special attention is needed to eradicate the virus.

National Emergency Operation Centre head Dr Rana Safdar told Dawn that it was decided at the meeting to give special focus on 12 ‘high risk’ districts.

“It was decided that pre-campaign and post-campaign arrangements will be checked minutely, and independent monitoring will also be done to ensure that further low immunity pockets for polio do not develop in the country,” he said.

“It has been decided that vaccine coverage rate in District Killa Abdullah, which was almost 80pc will be increased by 90 per cent. It was also observed that, during the last three polio campaigns, there was a lack of coordination between health teams and those who had to make security arrangements,” he said.

“Although the security situation has been much improved in Karachi health teams were reluctant to go for campaigns without security officials. Due to which, in some areas, such as Orangi Town, Baldia, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Jamshed Town, the 90 per cent target could not be achieved,” he said.

Dr Safdar said that a task force supervised by the Karachi commissioner has been established, and the focus group has decided that the quality of polio campaigns will not be compromised upon.

“Until May 2016 six high quality polio campaigns will be held all over the country and we have been expecting that the polio virus will be interrupted by that time,” he said.

He said that teams who reach the 90 per cent coverage target will receive special initiatives, including financial benefits.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on Saturday, the prime minister, at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (in Malta), reiterated his commitment to ensuring that every child is vaccinated.

The statement says that NHS secretary Mohammad Ayub Shaikh informed the meeting that the PC-1 – at the cost of $337million – was recommended by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on December 2 for approval from the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec).

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2015