Pakistan assesses polio situation ahead of global review

Islamabad

In preparation for the International Monitoring Board’s review of Pakistan’s polio performance, a review meeting on polio eradication was convened here Wednesday, with satisfaction being expressed over the ‘tremendous progress’ achieved by the country towards the goal of polio eradication. The number of polio cases has progressively been declining; the country reported 20 cases last year, whereas this year, two cases have been reported so far as against 11 cases in the corresponding period last year.

Minister for Health Saira Afzal, Secretary Health Muhammad Ayub Shaikh, Director General Health Dr. Assad Hafeez, National Coordinator of National Polio Emergency Centre Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, a representative of the Pakistan Army, and senior officials from international partner agencies attended the meeting.

The meeting was informed that environmental surveillance for detection of poliovirus has been enhanced with the addition of more sites for collection of sewage samples. An aggressive strategy has been employed to track and vaccinate missed children. Arrangements are in place at the Pak-Afghan border entry points to vaccinate children. The meeting agreed that instead of immunizing children below 10 years of age only, the possibility of enhancing the age bracket from 10 years to include adults should be explored.

The meeting noted the need to strengthen routine immunization services, and this context, there was agreement over reaching out to the provincial leaderships, given that there is no dearth of resources for scaling up routine immunization.

Earlier, Dr. Safdar gave a detailed briefing on the current status of polio eradication in Pakistan.