ISLAMABAD, July 24: The Senate Standing Committee on Health has taken notice of an increase in polio cases in different parts of the country, particularly in Sindh and the NWFP, and asked the health ministry to take stringent steps to ensure eradication of the disease by 2010.

In a meeting here on Thursday, members of the committee pointed out that the increase in polio cases in Sindh and the NWFP was the result of a substandard campaign because the affected children had either not been immunised or had been given insufficient dozes.

They said a mechanism was required to properly monitor the performance of vaccinators and increase their outreach in remote areas.

Senators Razina Alam Khan, Babar Khan Ghauri and other members suggested that vaccination teams should be trained to motivate people, particularly parents, to get their children vaccinated.

They said the media should be involved to create awareness about the disease and to counter propaganda against the vaccine.

The members said the measures taken so far to eradicate polio were insufficient.

The committee asked the director general for health to submit a report on action taken against employees of the Cardiovascular Hospital in Karachi involved in re-using syringes with fake medicines.

It also sought details of pending cases of promotions in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College.

The director general said the number of polio cases in the country had dropped from 30,000 in 1994 to 32 in 2007. He said 16 cases had been reported during the current year.

He said 82 per cent of the districts had been polio free for the past eight years.

The committee decided to visit various hospitals of the federal government.