LAHORE, Nov 15: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday concerted efforts were needed for eradication of polio and other diseases from the country.

In his presidential remarks at a seminar on eradication of polio, organised by the health department at the Alhamra Art Centre here, the chief minister said Pakistan was among few unfortunate countries where polio had not been completely rooted out. The natural calamities could not be countered, he said, but the losses could be minimised with a sense of responsibility.

Controlling polio, dengue and other diseases was the responsibility of the local governments which were “a gift of Pervez Musharraf”. The district governments were to blame for negligence in this regard, he said categorically.

He said the media had played an important role in promoting public awareness and newspaper clippings provided guidance to him as he does not rely on the reports of the agencies, which are always misleading. He was thankful to the media for promoting awareness about dengue virus.

He said he was ready to work round-the-clock for the provision of best healthcare facilities to children and there would be no dearth of resources. Only a few drops of polio vaccine were enough to save the lives of children, he said, deploring that due to inefficiency of some individuals and departments anti-polio vaccination campaign was not carried out properly due to which four children had lost their lives.

He said effective measures were being taken for the improvement of health sector and 60 dialysis machines had been imported from Germany for the provision of free dialysis facilities to kidney patients. The machines would be installed at the district headquarters hospitals within a few days, he said.

Shahbaz Sharif said he visited the Mayo Hospital, the country’s oldest health facility, a few days back and was shocked to see the state of affairs. The operation theatres were littered with empty glucose bottles, used cotton and bandages while the toilets were filthy. Water was not available in the toilets due to broken taps.

“The provision of free medicines in emergency and other wards would be useless if due attention was not paid to the principles of hygiene and sanitation”.