Health minister vows all-out support for PEI

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Minister for Health and Population Welfare Akbar Jan Marwat has said that polio eradication is a national emergency and strong coordination among all the stakeholders under the umbrella of the Health Department is the only viable way forward to rid the region of the menace for good.

He said this during his maiden visit to Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here on Wednesday. He received a detailed briefing from EOC Coordinator Atif Rehman on the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI), challenges and the way forward.

Secretary Health Abid Majeed, Health Services Director General, Dr Ayub Rose, EPI Director Dr Akram Shah, Technical Focal Person for BMGF Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, Team Lead UNICEF Dr Johar, WHO representative Dr Alauddin, Provincial Team Lead N Stop Dr Ijaz Ali Shah and relevant staff of health and partner organizations were present on the occasion.

Dilating on his viewpoint, Akbar Jan Marwat appreciated the commitment of the Health Department for the polio eradication and for improving other health care indicators in the province. He said that he would be happy to play his due role in polio eradication during his tenure in the office.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Health Abid Majeed thanked the caretaker health minister for acknowledging the due importance of polio eradication for our coming generations and for his maiden visit to the EOC to show his resolve for the national cause of polio eradication.

The official informed the minister about the hard work for the polio eradication. He paid homage to the frontline workers for braving many challenges in the field to materialize the dream of a polio-free Pakistan.

Earlier, briefing Minister for Health, EOC Coordinator Atif Rehman, talked about the provincial and national management structure of the programme, establishment and objective of the EOCs to provide a common platform to government and technical partners for making joint strategies for PEI, its monitoring and implementation mechanism.

Atif Rehman said the programme was on the right track with constant decline in the number of cases which were recorded at 68 in 2014 in the province while one case was reported in 2017.

He said no case had been reported from the province so far showing the efforts and hard work of the teams under the guidance and ownership of the government.