KARACHI, Oct 30: President Asif Ali Zardari called on Tuesday for following innovative strategies to reach out to areas which were still serving as reservoir of polio virus and had remained under-served because of various reasons.

Presiding over a meeting held at the Bilawal House to review progress in polio eradication efforts in Sindh, he reiterated the government’s commitment to utilising all possible resources for complete eradication of the crippling disease.

“If effective implementation of innovative approaches with optimum utilisation of resources and proper vigilance are ensured, transmission of polio virus can be contained in Sindh,” he said.

When the meeting was informed that the large number of migrant population was one of the main reasons for many children being left unattended during the vaccination campaigns launched from time to time, the president asked the authorities concerned to consider establishing permanent booths at all transit points in the provinces in collaboration with non-governmental organisations.

He asked why the crippling disease could not be eliminated from the country and said it was former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who had formally launched the anti-polio campaign and the first child to be immunised against the disease was her daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari who was now an ambassador for polio eradication.

President Zardari stressed the need for paying special attention to high-risk population where vaccination had remained low. Awareness campaigns should also be launched in far-flung areas of Sindh where literacy rate was low and people did not have access to adequate medical facilities.

Directing the officials concerned to use all available resources to ensure that every child was reached during polio vaccination campaigns in the province, he advised commissioners and deputy commissioners to personally monitor the campaigns.

The president praised the international community for assisting Pakistan in any-polio campaigns and reiterated the government’s commitment to providing security to international health teams engaged in the mission.

The meeting was informed that 33 polio cases had been detected in Sindh in 2011, compared to 27 in 2010. The province has so far reported three type-1 polio cases in 2012 in Hyderabad, Larkana and Mirpurkhas.

The overall provincial vaccination coverage by finger marking in the province was 98 per cent. All districts and towns had 95 per cent coverage by finger marking with the exception of Shikarpur, Karachi and Tharparkar.