PESHAWAR, Sept 24: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned to separate donor organisations from polio eradication campaigns in the province and use their funding to strengthen its programme of vaccination against eight childhood diseases, including polio, by June next, it is learnt.

Sources have told Dawn that the government has planned to halt all spending on anti-polio publicity and spend its and foreign vaccination funds against measles, diphtheria, hepatitis, meningitis, pertussis, influenza, pneumonia and polio right across the board.

“We’re literally sick of this polio vaccination programme as vaccinators focus on polio elimination and thus, ignoring other childhood diseases,” an official said.

The official said by and large, efforts to eradicate polio in the province since 1994 had been a failure as new cases of the crippling diseases were regularly reported.

He said other vaccine-preventable diseases, especially measles and chicken pox, had been affecting and killing children in the province.

Officials said around a dozen government partners in immunisation programme, including United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organisation, had been unable to contain polio in the province.

They said polio and other immunisation projects would be integrated into the regular government programmes to provide facilities at the state-run health facilities.

Official said as part of the restructuring of health department, the government had planned to administer oral polio vaccine to children at fixed centres established by the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) in all health facilities.

“We want to use massive resources being spent continuously for polio vaccination for fighting measles, diphtheria, hepatitis, meningitis, pertussis, influenza and pneumonia, too,” an official said.

He said under the plan, donors currently supporting polio campaigns would be asked to equip labour rooms and children wards in hospitals instead of directly supporting the government as they currently did.

“By June next, the plan will executed in the province after which there will be no special polio campaigns. All children will get immunisation at health facilities,” he said.

The official said to support the plan, the government was planning to amend the Vaccination Ordinance, 1958, to make immunisation of children compulsory and punish parents blocking vaccination of children.

“We are making a law to make it mandatory for people to immunise their children against vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said. Officials said currently, only 48 per cent of the province’s children were immunised putting the rest at the risk of contracting childhood diseases.

They said the new law would also make it binding on health workers to reach all children of immunisable age in their respective areas.

“Vaccinators failing to achieve 100 per cent immunisation coverage in their respective areas will face the action, which include suspension or termination of services, and halt to payment of annual increment in salary,” an official said.