IMB impressed with Pakistan’s progress on polio eradication, ministry claims

Islamabad

If the Ministry of Health is to be believed, the International Monitoring Board (IMB) on Polio, which concluded its meeting in London on Thursday, has “highly appreciated the progress made by Pakistan during the last low-transmission season and is especially impressed by the polio programme’s capacity to pre-empt risks, and identify and address gaps on real time basis.” However, the IMB’s actual observations will only be known when it releases its report within a month.

In a press release issued here on Friday, the Ministry quotes the IMB as having appreciated the role of the security forces to provide space for health, and has stressed need to ensure leadership stability in the Emergency Operation Centre for Polio Eradication, health departments, and key divisions and districts.

The IMB is stated to have expressed confidence in strategies outlined in National Emergency Action Plan to interrupt virus transmission during 2016. “To make it happen, we will need to focus on Karachi, north Sindh, and high-risk mobile populations especially on the Pak-Afghan border,” the press release stated. The IMB is also stated to have urged the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and donors to fully support Pakistan in outstanding work for children of the world, and has emphasized that resource constraints must not be an obstacle to the work in progress.

The Board observed that there is no resource gap at the moment but all aggressive approaches outlined in the Plan would be supported through additional grant assistance. IMB thought it appropriate to advise potential donors on this.

Pakistan was represented in the meeting by the Minister of State for Health Saira Afzal Tarar, Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq, secretary health Muhammad Ayub Sheikh, national coordinator of EOC Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar and provincial health secretaries.

Saira told the meeting that “Pakistan is satisfied with the turnaround and rapid progress but recognizes that polio interruption and eradication is a zero-sum game and Pakistan is not yet at zero.” Ayesha said, the paradigm shift from “coverage” to “missed children” has driven programme operations in all provinces with very encouraging results. Ayub Sheikh maintained that the five strategic objectives of the programme elaborated in NEAP include primary targets for each of the three core areas of work i.e., programme operations, risk assessment and decision support, and management oversight and accountability. “This management piece crystallizes the scale and scope of direct governmental contribution to ensure the programme stays on track and takes the necessary corrective action,” he stated.