ISLAMABAD: Some Pakistani delegates to the biannual meeting of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Polio left for London on Sunday with hopes of convincing the body that Pakistan is making progress in eradicating the virus of the crippling disease.

Though compared to last year’s 224 cases, only 36 polio cases have been reported this year so far, the burst of new cases in the last few weeks makes them carry prayers in their hearts on the journey.

It is noteworthy that IMB works on behalf of international donor agencies and issues assessment reports every six months on the performance of the countries fighting the menace. In November 2012, IMB recommended restrictions on travel to Pakistan, which were enforced on May 5, 2014.

The team will update Independent Monitoring Board on progress regarding anti-polio measures

Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio, will lead the Pakistani delegation to the two-day IMB meeting, beginning on Monday.

“Fortunately independent partners like WHO, Unicef, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others have shown satisfaction in their reports sent to IMB. So we will be in a better position,” said a Ministry of NHS official.

“Ms Farooq will inform the meeting that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is taking personal interest in the matter and that his Focus Group for Polio Eradication and the Cabinet Committee on Immunisation, comprising the ministers of defence, interior and national health services (NHS) are making every effort to achieve the goal of eradicating polio virus from the country.

“She will claim that poliovirus is increasingly disappearing from the environmental samples. The centres of poliovirus (North Waziristan and Karachi) are controlled following Zarb-i-Azb operation which has restricted movement from Fata to Karachi,” the official added.

Secretary Health of Balochistan and the representative of the GHQ, who are part of the delegation, are still waiting for their visas.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries in the world still menaced by polio. Nigeria announced this week that it had become polio-free, but rules require it to remain under watch for three years.

Meanwhile, civil war-torn Ukraine has become a suspect case and will be attending the IMB meeting.

“Overall vaccination ratio has gone down in Ukraine and polio viruses are also found in environmental samples. So it is a matter of concern for the IMB,” Dr Rana Safdar, head of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) and a member of Pakistan delegation, told Dawn at Islamabad airport before leaving for London.

“Our delegation, however, will give the positive message that our whole country is united against polio. We will present realities during the meeting. IMB will be informed about current data, tracking of missed children, third party monitoring system and reduction in polio cases,” he said.

On Monday Pakistan will hold a meeting with the members of the Afghan team to devise a strategy for joint polio campaigns on their common border.

“Both countries are considered as one block and polio cannot be fully addressed in Pakistan unless it is addressed in Afghanistan,” said Dr Safdar.

Other visa-holding members of the Pakistani delegation who left for London were Secretary NHS Ayub Sheikh, health secretaries of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, and Secretary Law and Order, Fata.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2015

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