‘Sehat Muhafiz Cricket’ tourney concludes

PESHAWAR: In order to highlight the importance of vaccination and involve multiple stakeholders as advocates for polio vaccination, a day-long “Sehat Muhafiz Cricket” tournament was organized by Emergency Operations Centre Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in collaboration with district management at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium here Wednesday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Sports, Tourism and Culture Atif Khan was the chief guest on the occasion. Coordinator EOC Kamran Afridi, Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Imran Sheikh, ADVC Shahid Khan, MNA Nasir Musazai, MPA Fazle Illahi, journalists, lawyers, representatives of district management and officials of EOC were in attendance. Speaking at the inaugural session, Minister for Sports, Tourism and Culture Atif Khan welcomed all the participants and appreciated programme organisers for organising sports event to raise public awareness on the significance of polio vaccination.

He said that participation from parliamentarians, media, bar council, district management and law enforcing agencies indicates that people from cross segments of life are aware of the threat posed by the crippling disease to our children and wants to play their due role in the noble cause. Atif Khan said that healthy life was the right of every child and it was the responsibility of every citizen to play their part in achieving the goal of polio-free Pakistan. He assured all-out support on behalf of the sports department to polio eradication saying that the department will support the national cause and will advocate for it at all forums. Coordinator EOC Kamran Afridi thanked the participants for turning up in large number for the event that was meant to raise the importance of vaccination and engage civil society in the awareness raising about immunization and public health interventions. MNA Nasir Musazai said that health was the top priority of the govt and offered all-out assistance to achieve the goal of polio-free Pakistan. He said parliamentarians should advocate for polio eradication in their respective constituencies and address the misconceptions of the people with a view to counter anti-polio propaganda. Earlier, matches were played between Peshawar media team and District Management team in pool A while in Pool B matches were played between Bar Council and parliamentarians.