ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq and Minister of State for National Health Services (NHS) Saira Afzal Tarar agreed on Monday that the `Sehat ka Insaf’ programme should be adopted for a new campaign as`Sehat ka Ittehad’.

During a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai there was consensus that a daylong campaign would be safe for polio workers, says a statement issued by the Ministry of NHS.

On Jan 23, Ms Farooq wrote a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, to the KP government in which it was said that there was a need to learn from the experience of one-day campaigns conducted in Peshawar during the first quarter of 2014.

The ‘Sehat Ka Ittehad’ programme will continue from February to May. As many as 12 one-day campaigns would be conducted in 12 districts of KP and three districts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with the aim of eradicating polio. The Pakistan Army has assured all-out support and security for the polio campaigns. According to the statement, Ms Tarar welcomed the `Sehat ka Ittehad’ initiative jointly planned by the KP government and authorities in Fata to fight polio.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

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