KARACHI, March 25: Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad has asserted that henceforth the provincial government will not tolerate any complacency or negligence to polio eradication from the province and the country.

He was discussing matters about polio eradication with the WHO Director for the Easter Mediterranean Region, Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, on Thursday. The governor congratulated the WHO regional director on being awarded the Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam by the president on Pakistan Day and praised his services for the health sector in Pakistan.

The governor called for better inter-sectoral collaboration between various line departments with the help of provincial ministers and district nazims and advised the health department to submit to him a regular progress report indicating the districts or towns lagging behind in immunization programme and the problems being faced by the very districts and towns.

Sindh Minister for Health Naim Ishtiaq, Federal Health Secretary Tariq Farooq, the WHO representative to Pakistan, Dr Khalif Bile Mohammad, UN Senior National Advocacy Officer Abdul Qadir Baloch, WHO Provincial Operations Officer Dr G.N.Kazi, UNICEF Programme Chief Rana Syed and Dr Ashfaq Ahmed, the deputy director-general, ministry of health, were also present on the occasion.

Dr Gezairy thanked the governor for the efficient performance of the Polio Eradication Cell in the Governor's Secretariat and thanked the Sindh government for appointing a minister for health. He also stressed measures to improve the routine immunization in the province.

The governor promised to look into the matter of appointment of 700 vaccinators under the GAVI support that was pending for a long time and assured that the matter would be solved in a few days.

He stressed the maximum utilization of the lady health workers and called for effective transportation of the vaccines. He also called for establishing permanent infrastructure for all disease-control mechanisms that should not be restricted to any particular disease so that a holistic approach could be followed.

During his visit to the provincial capital, Dr Gezairy also held detailed discussion with the Sindh minister for health, the Sindh Secretary for health and senior officers of the WHO and the provincial health department.

He also called on the commander of Karachi, Rear Admiral M. Asad Qureishi, and toured the Karachi harbour. Later, he spoke at a joint press conference with the Sindh health minister.

Delivering his keynote address at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan, the WHO regional director underlined the major challenges facing the health sector in Pakistan and pledged full support of his organization in addressing them. He, however, remarked that the low public sector spending in health was not likely to lead to very positive outcomes. - APP