PESHAWAR, Jan 5: The health department of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has expressed its concern over the role of United Nations (UN) agencies in polio eradication. They say that huge salaries are given to persons monitoring and supervising the campaign, with a negligible improvement in health delivery.
There are about a dozen donor agencies, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), but the bulk of funds go to staff payroll, says an official. He says the amount allocated to improve the services is far less than what is eaten up by payroll.
Last year, about 16 polio cases were detected in the NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) as compared to five in the preceding year, says an official of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). The donor organisations and the government claim that polio is about to be eradicated but the crippling disease has made its presence felt.
Officials dispute the number of cases on the plea that most children showing signs of the disease weren’t reported as they lived in far-flung areas which could not be reached due to lack of staff and vehicles. In this connection a complaint was registered at the health secretariat last year.
The WHO which started the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) programme in the NWFP and Fata in 1994 with the aim of providing technical and financial support for eradication of polio is still facing an uphill task due to the lack of coordination between the WHO and the department concerned.
The EPI has 400 staff members for Fata, spread over 27,220sq-km, but it is difficult to reach all children under five. The NWFP and Fata have more than 1,000 EPI workers but the limited resources and lack of transport and other facilities to reach remote areas pose obstacles, he adds.
The EPI is conducting eight rounds of immunisation annually in the Frontier and adjacent tribal belt and about Rs53 million is spent on each round of which 80 per cent goes to human resource (team and supervisors); 18 per cent to transportation and fuel cost; and two per cent to miscellaneous. The WHO spends 65 per cent of its budget on polio eradication campaign in Pakistan, say the official. Moreover, the EPI has also acquired financial assistance from the Bill Gates-sponsored Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI).
The number of vaccination teams and supervisors is almost half of what is needed for the purpose he says citing a WHO letter wherein it has expressed concern over the poor polio campaign in Fata.
Another official associated with the campaign say that the UN should allocate more funds to improve the services. The WHO and Unicef hire the services of technical staff on higher salaries.
Recently, a WHO official was transferred on health department’s recommendation when he refused to appoint the recommended person.
He says that one out of four children are missed in each round in Fata while on an average they receive less than half the number of vaccine dose as compared to other districts.
He deplored that an amount not exceeding Rs200 is given to the EPI workers per day during immunisation campaigns. The amount, he says is insufficient for them to hire vehicles, while those hired by the WHO are paid handsomely for doing nothing.
The WHO has services of more than 50 persons and most are paid in dollars while a big chunk goes to the maintenance of 30 vehicles.