Accessibility brought polio cases down in Fata: official

PESHAWAR: Secretary Law and Order of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata ) Shakeel Qadir has said that there has been a visible decline in polio cases after the health workers and polio teams got access to the previously inaccessible areas of the tribal areas.

In a meeting at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), he presented facts and figures about the anti-polio vaccination campaigns in Fata to senior programme representative Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Dr Waqar Ajmal.

Shakeel Qadir, who is also the coordinator for the EOC, said that inaccessibility dropped to 2 per cent in 2015 from 31 per cent in 2014, and the number of polio cases to 11 in 2015 from 179 in 2014. He said seven polio cases in Khyber Agency have been detected so far, which is a major share of total 11 such cases in Fata during 2015; including two polio cases in South Waziristan, one each in North Waziristan and Frontier Region Peshawar.

Dr Waqar Ajmal appreciated the endeavours of EOC Fata and said the achievements made during 2015 were praiseworthy. He stressed the need for joint planning, regular meetings and coordinated efforts of EOC Fata and KP to reach out to every child for polio vaccination in the region.

Dr Waqar Ajmal suggested that health camps may also be effectively utilised through teams. He stressed the importance of determination and commitments made public on the part of the administration as well as higher ups to underscore the importance of polio eradication efforts in the region.