PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash has asked the health authorities to speed up anti-polio efforts to cope with outbreak of vaccine-preventable childhood ailment in North Waziristan district.
Chairing a meeting of Provincial Task Force on Polio here on Thursday, he said that efforts should be doubled during the upcoming anti-polio drive in the province, starting from June 27, according to a statement.
The chairperson of KP Standing Committee on Health, MPA Rabia Basri, administrative secretaries of elementary and secondary education, health and information departments and other officials attended the meeting.
The chief secretary reiterated strong commitment for polio eradication despite challenges, saying all-out efforts would be made to make the region polio-free and stop transmission of the virus. He directed the commissioners and deputy commissioners to implement the action points pending at their end to plug the gaps.
Dr Shahzad said that leading religious scholars and opinion makers should be engaged for making anti-polio drive successful. He directed the authorities concerned to give special attention to problematic union councils in southern districts and ensure that every child below the age of five was vaccinated against the crippling disease.
MPA Rabia Basri highlighted the role of political leaders in sensitisation of their communities on polio eradication in their respective constituencies and countering anti-polio propaganda.
UNICEF Country Head of Polio Hamesh Young said that it was vital for polio eradication to strengthen transit points, especially in the southern districts, to ensure vaccination of travelling people. Health Secretary Amer Sultan Tareen said that field level staff should focus on implementation and not on strategic level as it was the responsibility of provincial chief and other high level coordination units.
Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022
