QUETTA: Technical Advisory Group (TAG) chairperson Dr Jean Marc Olive says that efforts being made by the Balochistan government to wipe out poliovirus from the province are bearing fruit.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Balochistan Polio Emergency Operation Centre on Sunday, he said the province had shown remarkable progress in covering maximum number of children during vaccination campaigns. There were still some gaps which needed to be filled to ensure that every child in the province received vaccination, he added.

Mr Olive visited vaccination points in Pishin and Quetta and appreciated the work of frontline workers in high-risk areas.

He had also visited vaccination points in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

“We need to focus on intense monitoring of vaccination campaigns at Afghan refugee camps and other vaccination points,” Mr Olive said, adding that “low performing union councils are decreasing which is a positive sign for all of us but more collective efforts are needed to reach every child”.

He lauded recruitment of permanent local community health workers in high-risk areas under the community protected vaccination programme.

Currently there are more than 2,500 such permanent teams working in high-risk areas in the province.

The meeting was attended by Coordinator of Emergency Operation Centre in Quetta Syed Faisal Ahmed, Chief of Unicef’s polio unit Chris Mory, TAG member Dr Zubair Wadood and representatives of Worth Health Organisation and Unicef.

Published in Dawn November 28th, 2016