PM’s focal person sees gaps in provision of immunisation services

Islamabad :The Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq Tuesday took notice of gaps in the provision of routine immunization services in slums located on the outskirts of Islamabad and issued directions to ensure that every child is immunized without fail.

Ayesha paid a surprise visit to these slums while personally monitoring the polio immunization campaign on the second day of the five-day nationwide drive. “Our Sehat Muhafiz have brought us so close to polio eradication that we cannot afford to relax; hence I have come out to support our valiant teams for getting rid of this disease completely,” Ayesha said during her visit. Recognizing how critical the polio drive is in Islamabad, she said would be personally monitor the campaign. Even though no case of polio has been reported from the twin cities for over two years now but the presence of poliovirus in the environmental/sewage samples of both Islamabad and Rawalpindi remain a cause for serious concern and proactive action.

“Pakistan has recorded historic low number of cases in 2017 and we don’t want to lose this opportunity to defeat this crippling virus by being vigilant, proactive and persistent,” Ayesha said. The Prime Minister has constituted a special task force to monitor the campaign in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and to report back to him on a daily basis to ensure maximum coverage during this and all the upcoming campaigns.

Ayesha visited vaccinators working in slums and interacted with parents and community elders in Pakistan Town, H 9, Koral, and other areas. She went inside homes and asked mothers if their children had been vaccinated. She also inspected children playing in the streets to see whether their fingers had been marked after vaccination. She talked to polio teams and checked their tally sheets. She also advised polio teams to pay attention to children who may be visiting relatives since there is a possibility of such children being missed in the drive.

Ayesha further directed that each house, including makeshift shanties, nomads and travelling families with under five children should be administered polio drops and properly marked with permanent markers to ensure each household is covered.

Ayesha was accompanied by the National Coordinator for Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Dr. Rana Safdar and other senior officers of the health ministry, ICT and CDA.

Over 250,000, frontline workers are administering polio drops to over 37.7 million children under the age of five years across all provinces, FATA, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and AJK. Target for Islamabad is 0.312 million during the current campaign for which ICT and CDA administration have formed 1,346 teams and set up 73 teams at various transit points across Islamabad.