Mayor nominates focal persons for polio campaigns

Islamabad

The newly-elected chairpersons of union councils (UC) from Islamabad have pledged to mobilise and motivate communities and work alongside ‘Sehat Muhafiz’ in and around the federal capitol to ensure that Islamabad remains polio-free and every child gets vaccinated during the upcoming polio campaign.

A batch of these elected chairpersons of urban union councils of Islamabad gathered in the National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to get firsthand briefing on the situation of routine immunization and polio eradication in the capital. The briefing was organized to sensitize local government representatives for their meaningful engagement in the polio eradication initiative and strengthening of routine immunisation.

In a message conveyed through one of his officials, the mayor of Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz, said, “I nominate all newly elected chairpersons of the union councils of Islamabad as focal persons for polio campaigns to assume ownership of the cause.”

The national coordinator of EOC, Dr. Rana Safdar, apprised the participants that about 30 million children still do not have access to basic immunisation services, and almost 3 million die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. He highlighted that reaching and vaccinating every child in each round is the only way to win this war against the virus and vaccinating children multiple times adds to their immunity while also protecting children around them.

Highlighting Islamabad-specific issues, Dr. Rana termed disintegrated health infrastructure of the capital, deficient human resource particularly in the CDA, presence of high-risk mobile populations across the city, and training and deployment of appropriate teams as the main areas of concern. He stressed on high-quality supportive supervision and real-time monitoring and need to update micro-plans.

Dr. Rana urged the local government representatives to participate in UC Polio Eradication Committees to critically review preparedness for each campaign and support in raising appropriate teams in each UC.

During the question-answer session, the UC chairpersons raised various points. Fauzia Arshad, chairperson UC-28, said that the health department of CDA never contacted her during any polio campaign. She further highlighted that information about vaccine safety and efficacy should be made public through the media. Anjum Shahzad Tanoli, chairperson UC 27, highlighted the need of local and trustworthy teams for polio campaigns.