Polio emergency action plan 2015 to be finalised by end-March

Islamabad: Three precious months of the current year have slipped by, and only on Thursday were the broad contours of the National Emergency Action Plan on Polio (NEAP) 2015 deliberated upon during a meeting held at the National Emergency Operations Centre here Thursday, with the PM’s focal person on polio eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq in the chair.
The meeting discussed strategies aimed at maintaining and increasing population immunity against polio, stopping poliovirus transmission in all reservoirs, preventing poliovirus circulation in the rest of the country, and sustaining poliovirus interruption through increased routing immunization coverage. The participants agreed that the lessons learnt from 2014 should form basis of NEAP 2015. The plan will be finalized by the end of March after incorporation of inputs made by the provinces.
Opening the discussions, Ayesha Raza Farooq called for urgent measures to improve tracking of all missed children for polio vaccine, address refusals and conduct quality campaigns.
The meeting was attended by Khawaja Salman Rafiq, health advisor to the chief minister of Punjab, provincial health secretaries, EPI managers, and representatives from GHQ, UNICEF and WHO.
Khawaja Salman Rafiq suggested that priority list of high-risk districts for 2015 should be revised and Rahim Yar Khan, D G Khan and Rajanpur should be designated as highest risk due to ongoing circulation in northern Sindh and Balochistan, increased migrant and mobile population movement from high-risk areas, and low EPI coverage compared to other part of Punjab. He also suggested introduction of IPV in Punjab, and surveillance of environmental samples of RY Khan.
Health secretary of Balochistan Dr. Noor Baloch recommended that NEAP 2015 should focus on campaign quality, rather than quantity. Muhammad Mushtaq Jadoon, secretary health Punjab, observed that mapping of missed children, and reduction in frequency of campaigns need to be focused in the current year.
Dr. Mazhar Khamisani, project director of EPI in Sindh, pointed out that the Sindh polio programme has requested for 700 security personnel to conduct synchronized polio campaigns in Karachi’s high-risk UCs, but despite several commitments, security personnel have not been deputed for polio team escorts.
Dr. Sahibzada Khalid, deputy director of EPI in FATA, also stressed on reducing the frequency of campaigns. He also called for independent monitoring of campaigns. Dr. Sardar Shabbir Ahmed, EPI manager in AJK said optimum coverage of 95% polio vaccination is being maintained in AJK, which is polio-free since 2000.
Brig. Tariq Mehmood, army focal person on polio, shared different proposals with regard to security. Earlier, national EOC coordinator Dr. Rana Safdar presented the salient features of NEAP 2015.Convergence of polio programme and routine immunization was recommended by all participants as the key to achieving optimal results.