World should consider security situation of Pakistan in context of polio eradication: Mamnoon

Islamabad
President Mamnoon Hussain on Tuesday requested the world community to understand the security situation of Pakistan in context with polio eradication and adopt sympathetic approach rather than imposing sanctions.
“Pakistan is taking all possible measures to control polio virus and we are confident that the campaign will move smoothly after Operation Zarb-e-Azb,” he said while addressing the 2nd Pakistan Conference on Sanitation
(PACOSAN-II). The two-day conference is aimed at reviewing the progress of sanitation and hygiene in Pakistan in view of past experiences
for the formulation of roadmap towards 2025 to achieve sanitation targets.
The sanitation and hygiene situation in the country remains at a crises point as just 48 percent of the population has access to improved sanitation and more than 40 million people continue to defecate in the open. Only 24 percent households of Pakistan have access to underground and covered drains, 42 percent have access to open drains and 33 percent live with no system.
The current government expenditure on sanitation and hygiene is very limited. The rural households spend around 20% of their monthly income ($10-20 per month) on medical costs, largely due to sanitation & water borne diseases. Pakistan is currently off track in meeting its sanitation Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target i.e. ensuring that 67 percent of its people have access to improved sanitation by 2015. Pakistan is missing the MDG sanitation target by nearly a decade. A momentum to tackle this crisis needs to be built in line with the Millennium Development Goals, SACOSAN/SWA commitments and the United Nations Secretary General’s Call to Action on Sanitation.
President Mamnoon urged all stakeholders, including federal and provincial governments, academia, national and international organisations, religious and community leaders and media to join hands for universal coverage of sanitation and hygiene in the country. He suggested the Federal Ministry of Climate Change to involve philanthropists in their campaign to improve situation of sanitation in the country. “It is unfortunate that lack of sanitation facilities is one of the major causes of high child mortality rate in Pakistan despite the fact that cleanliness is declared half faith in Islam,” he said.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan said that sanitation and water are the human rights issues and they would be treated the same way during his tenure in the ministry. He said that Pakistan largely met its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets in water sector but lacking behind in sanitation goals. He stressed to create synergy among different stakeholders to improve the sanitation situation.
Unicef Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta said that poor sanitation is a matter of grave concern because of its direct link with dignity, health and economic wellbeing of general public. “Pakistan is among top three countries in the world with highest rate of stunting and reported cases of polio. Both these diseases could not be controlled without improving the situation of sanitation in the country,” she said.
Geeta said that improved sanitation leads to empowered girls. “Better sanitation reduces the risk of violence against women and leads to increases in access to school for girls and better health which ultimately leads to women empowerment,” she said.
World Bank Country Director Rachid Benmessaoud talked about the nexus of water and sanitation with poverty, health, education and economic empowerment. “The disease burden leads to high child mortality and huge economic burden on people as well as on the government. Inadequate sanitation costs Rs343.7 billion ($5.7 billion) annually, which is 3.9% of GDP,” he said.
MNA and Convener of the Parliamentary Task Force on MDGs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Marriyum Auranzeb said that Pakistan is the first ever country in the world to form a Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs, which has 88 members, including MNAs and MPAs. Its purpose is to engage parliamentarians in implementation of international commitments, she said.
The second PACOSAN will prelude to the formulation of roadmap towards 2025 by the provincial governments and federal territories to achieve sanitation targets in collaboration with key development partners working in the country.