PM’s focal person for vaccinating every child

Islamabad Polio is a zero sum game and until we achieve zero, we cannot sit idle in our war against the disease, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq stated here Sunday at the close of the10th annual review and training meeting of Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP) officers.

Ayesha congratulated the programme officials for successfully completing six years of dedicated work. “NSTOP officers are adding critical value to Pakistan programme by providing technical support at district level,” she added. She assured that the government would do everything to make sure that their work is facilitated and hoped that CDC Atlanta would extend same support to these officers in the coming months and years.

Ayesha praised the NSTOP leadership for doing a candid review of their progress during the past few days with an aim to further improve the programme. “This culture of open accountability is the driver of change in the polio eradication initiative and NTOP,” she added and urged the NSTOP officers to renew their pledge to uproot polio by the end of the current year.

The National Coordinator for Pakistan’s Polio Programme Dr Rana Safdar commended NSTOP officers by saying that “your role at the district level is very critical as you have been instrumental in motivating and mobilizing the District Polio Control Room (DPCRs) in collaboration with concerned DCs,” he maintained.

Welcoming the participants of the review meeting, the Resident Advisor of FELTP Dr. Rana Jawad Asgher highlighted the role of the Field Epidemiology Training Programme in strengthening federal and provincial human resource, which is assisting Pakistan in controlling communicable diseases including the N-STOP initiative targeting polio and vaccine-preventable diseases.

The four-day review meeting of the N-STOP officers was attended by the DPCR focal persons from critical districts of the country. N-STOP is a collaborative initiative of the government of Pakistan, FELTP, World Health Organisation, and CDC Atlanta. The programme trains and deploys Government Public Health Officers in critical polio districts to serve as key technical support persons with the Deputy Commissioners.