• Murad orders action against concerned DCs, SSPs and health officers
• Officials say around 69pc of 10.6m children under five in province are fully immunised
• Six Sindh districts performed poorly during October campaign, meeting told

KARACHI: Over 43,000 cases of vaccine refusal were reported last month in the province that saw 66 per cent environmental samples collected from 20 districts testing positive for the poliovirus this year.

Taking an exception to the refusal numbers, the chief minister directed the chief secretary to remove any official — deputy commissioners, senior superintendents of police or district health officers — who failed to give his/ her 100 per cent to the anti-polio campaign.

Chairing a meeting at CM House, he said the province could no longer afford to have cases of refusal.

Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal, chief secretary Asif Hyder Shah, health secretary Rehan Baloch, Incharge of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Irshad Sodhar and others attended the meeting.

During the meeting, the CM received a detailed briefing on the polio situation in the country and the province.

The officials stated that out of 50 polio cases reported this year, Balochistan reported 24 cases, Sindh 13, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 11, Punjab and Islamabad one each.

According to the data shared in the meeting, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, and Keamari have reported two cases each whereas Shikarpur, District East (Gujro), Sujawal, Malir, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, and Ghotki one each.

There are 10.6 million children under the age of five in the province. Of them, 69 per cent are fully immunised. Around 66pc of the environmental samples collected from 20 districts across Sindh have tested positive for the virus.

Highlighting the problems being faced in the polio campaigns, the chief secretary told the chief minister that the challenges were primarily three — high number of refusal cases, reluctance from officers concerned in giving their best to the campaign and migration that had repeatedly introduced the virus into the province.

Currently, he said, an estimated 321,323 children were recorded as migrating with their parents while the province saw 43,227 cases of refusal in October.

During the briefing, the CM learnt that six district administrations — Karachi’s Central, East and Malir districts, Jamshoro, Kashmore and Tharparkar — performed poorly during the October campaign.

The chief minister instructed the chief secretary to direct the underperforming district administration, police, and District Health Officers (DHOs) to either improve their performance or pack up. “I want you [CS] to investigate the matter and take necessary action,” he said.

The chief minister concluded by noting that Pakistan, with 50 cases, and Afghanistan, with 23 cases, are the only two countries where poliovirus remains prevalent.

“We must eradicate it through our dedicated efforts, and all stakeholders, including parents, need to unite to support the government,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2024