World Health Organisation, Pakistan polio chief Dr Elias Durry on
Thursday apprised Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan in Lahore
of the threat to the health of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa children due to
non-vaccination, it is learned.PTI, which has the most seats in the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, leads a coalition government in the
province.
According to the relevant officials, the meeting has coincided with
the confirmation of three fresh polio cases from Federally Administered
Tribal Areas by National Institute of Health.
They said Fata had reported five, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa four and Sindh
two of this year’s 13 countrywide polio cases. According to them, among
the fresh cases are 23-month-old Ilyas Khan from Bara tehsil of Khyber
Agency, 22-month-old Ajmal Khan from Bakakhel, Frontier Region Bannu,
and four-month-old Mehran Ali from Bara.
The officials said Ilyas Khan hadn’t been vaccinated against polio
for six months due to health workers’ failure to reach his restive area,
while Ajmal Khan had received one dose of oral polio vaccine during the
last six months.
They added that Mehran Ali had been unimmunised so far.
The officials said WHO had publicly recorded its reservations about
polio eradication efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially in Peshawar.
They said the PTI chairman, who had inaugurated various polio
campaigns in the country’s several cities, apprised the WHO, Pakistan
polio chief of his eagerness to see fight against polio succeed.
The officials said Imran Khan carefully listened to Dr Elias Durry’s
concerns about Khyber Pakhtunkhwa children’s vaccination and assured him
that he would convey them to the PTI-led provincial government for
necessary action on emergency basis.
“Imran Khan said he would issue special instructions to the
provincial chief minister (who belongs to PTI) to ensure vaccination of
all children under five as ensuring better health care in the province
is his government’s top priority,” an official said.
The official said the WHO, Pakistan polio chief informed the PTI
chairman about his organisation’s role in polio campaigns and problems
faced by vaccinators.
“During the meeting, Imran’s attitude was positive. He said his
government was committed to making Khyber Pakhtunkhwa polio-free,” he
said.
The official said the appointment of Ishfaq Khan as the principal
secretary to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was a clear indication that
how PTI was committed to coping with polio-related matters. He said
Ishfaq’s work as the health secretary was much appreciated by donor
agencies.
“Now, he (Ishfaq) is in a position from where polio campaign could be
managed at the district level very effectively,” he said. The officials
said they had pinned high hopes on the PTI government that it would
come up with an effective strategy to improve anti-polio efforts and
counter threat to vaccinators in the province.
They said the PTI government’s promise to hold local government
elections in the province within six months was a welcome development as
it would help vaccination of children at union council levels.
Source : The Dawn , 6th June 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment