PESHAWAR: The government’s decision to synergize the Expanded Programme on Immunisation and the UN-run Polio Eradication Initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including merged tribal districts, will lead to the eradication of poliomyelitis besides enhancing immunisation for all vaccine-preventable diseases, insist experts.

Last week, the government decided to technically integrate the EPI and PEI of KP and its merged districts with Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in the lead role to do away with polio virus, which is in circulation in the province.

The move, first by any province, has been necessitated by dismal performance of the UN agencies as well the health department, which both have been in collaboration to end the virus since 1994.

Experts say collaboration to help eradicate polio, increase immunisation

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s decision to establish EOC in 2015 with BPS-20 officer as its coordinator has proved its mettle as far as the campaign against poliomyelitis is concerned. It has brought under accountability the UN staffers, who had been unscathed so far.

Since Jan, more than 20 WHO and Unicef staffers involved in the polio drive have been issued notices for bad performance by the EOC.

Experts say with lead role in immunisation affairs, the EOC will reinforce the government’s writ, which has been in the hands of the UN agencies so far.

The EPI was launched in 1976 which included polio vaccination as well. It was meant to control vaccine-preventable diseases and apply strategies to sustain the achievements of eradications.

After the successful eradication of smallpox, polio was listed to be done away with.

Keeping in view the experience of smallpox eradication, supplementary immunisation drives were introduced in 1994 across Pakistan along with expansion of EPI.

Given the success of supplementary doses, the program was re-strategised from hujra-based vaccination to door-to-door vaccination which brought polio virus near eradication in 2006 but the rise of insurgence and complexity of geo strategic changes, the program was adversely affected and aggravated more when target killings of polio workers started in 2012.

This was the point when the program was restructured under district administration to cope with the internal and external factors like coordination, security, community resistance, inclusion of other line departments and coordination among donors and among all partners.

The EOCs were introduced to provide a single platform to all developmental partners under the command of government.

The centres have all the national and international technical experts on operations, communication and security coordination related to immunisation.

These also introduced accountability and performance management across all the partnership to bring transparency in all operations through enhanced oversight of the chief secretary and chief minister.

Keeping in view the success of the dynamic and technical structures and functions of EOC, the prime minister in national task force’s meeting held a few months back directed all the chief ministers to include EPI in all oversight structures of polio eradication at all levels.

Also the international partners were of the opinion that synergizing both the program will not only benefit EPI performance to sustain the achievements but also will pave the to prevent re-emergence of polio virus after its eradication.

As the EPI programme and polio programme have been working under the oversight of EOC, provincial task force and district polio control rooms, the experts hope about positive outcome with regard to poliomyelitis and nine other childhood ailments in the days come.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2019