KARACHI, Nov 22: The Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) is likely to be turned into a public-private initiative, said the health secretary on Monday during a meeting with officials of Unicef which was collaborating with the authorities in efforts to banish polio from the country.
According to a press release, the health secretary, Prof Noshad Sheikh, said during the meeting that a summary would soon be moved for the purpose. The chief minister was likely to approve the document.
During the meeting, said the press release, several projects that were being implemented in collaboration with international agencies were discussed. It was resolved that all kinds of resources would be mobilized to improve routine coverage under the EPI because without doing so, polio could not be eradicated.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Sindh's Director-General of Health, Dr Hadi Bakhsh Jatoi, Additional Secretary, Manzoor A. Memon, the chief of Unicef Sindh, Raana Syed, Senior Programme Officer of Unicef, Ronald Deen, the chief of EPI Sindh, Dr Ali Nawaz Sheikh, Dr M. Azmoudeh of the World Health Organization, Prof Sadiqua Jafarey, Dr Asif Aslam of the Unicef, Prof D.S. Akram and the EDO of Karachi, Dr Fazal Illahi Memon.
During the meeting the chief of Unicef Sindh, Raana Syed, made a presentation on the projects which were being implemented in collaboration with Unicef while the chief of EPI Sindh, Dr Ali Nawaz Sheikh, provided details regarding the ongoing campaign against polio, said the press release.
Ms Syed said Unicef had launched several initiatives in the province to help reduce the maternal mortality rate. A crash programme would be launched, probably next week, under which motorcycles and bicycles would be distributed to vaccinators.
The areas which would be covered under this programme included Gadap, Saddar, Korangi, Kaemari and Gulshan-i-Iqbal towns of Karachi and the districts of Larkana and Khairpur. Refreshers courses for doctors were also being planned.
In his speech, the health secretary said under routine immunization 100 per cent of the children needed to be immunized not just against polio but also against measles, tuberculosis and hepatitis, etc.
If this target was not met, the diseases meant to be licked under EPI would simply not be eradicated. He also talked about the need to strengthen the surveillance and monitoring systems without which routine coverage could not be improved. The secretary urged Unicef to replicate its initiative, underway in three districts of the province, in three other districts, said the press release.
Dr Ali Nawaz Sheikh, chief of the EPI, informed the participants of the meeting that 24 cases of polio had been reported from the province this year. Two of the cases were reported from Karachi, six from Mirpurkhas, two from Ghotki, five from Hyderabad, three each from Sanghar and Jacobabad and one each from Nawabshah, Larkana and Dadu.
The Director-General of Health, Dr Hadi Bakhsh Jatoi, stressed the need to eradicate diseases other than polio for which routine immunization needed to be improved, said the handout.