Pakistan contingent to attend meeting of global polio watchdog today

Islamabad
A large contingent of health officials representing the federal and provincial governments of Pakistan has left for Abu Dhabi to attend the 12th meeting of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
The two-day meeting, which begins today (Wednesday), will feature a discussion on key issues facing Pakistan in the fight against polio, which has crippled over 20 children in just the first four months of 2015. The IMB will hear the federal government’s perspective on polio eradication, as well as the views of the Technical Advisory Group before finally sharing the GPEI’s standpoint.
A roundtable discussion with the federal and provincial polio representatives of Pakistan is also included in the first day’s agenda of the highly significant meeting. The day will start with the chair of the IMB Sir Liam Donaldson presenting an introduction and overview of the challenges in hand. Key issues facing Afghanistan and Nigeria will also be exhaustively discussed in the meeting.
Sessions planned for the second day of the meeting will be attended only by IMB and core partners of the GPEI. The IMB is known for offering an independent, frank and honest appraisal of the progress achieved in the fight against polio. In its last report released in October 2014, the IMB minced no words in establishing why polio has gone out of control in Pakistan. It blamed worsening vaccination coverage for decreasing immunity and an explosion in polio cases. The IMB also expressed its belief that the government of Pakistan can reach its children, “if it wants to.”
According to the list of participants released by the GPEI, the meeting will be attended by the minister of state and secretary for health Saira Afzal and Sheikh Ayub, respectively, as well as by the PM’s focal person on polio eradication Ayesha Raza, respectively.
Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, director of the polio eradication programme, National Emergency Operation Centre, will also attend the meeting. Moreover, the secretary’s of the departments of health of Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and Balochistan, as well as secretary of law and order at the FATA Secretariat, Peshawar, will also be part of the meeting. Dr Altaf Bosan, national technical consultant for polio eradication, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), will also attend the meeting.
The World Health Organisation will be represented by polio emergency adviser Dr. Elias Durry, and acting polio team leader Dr. Mufti Zubair Wadood.