National advisory body formed to depoliticise polio

Islamabad :A National Strategic Advisory Group on Polio Eradication and Immunization has been formed to depoliticize health and benefit from the wider advice of seasoned minds.

Constituted in consultation with the Prime Minister, the broad-based body is led by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza and includes two former Focal Persons on Polio Eradication Shahnaz Wazir Ali and Ayesha Raza Farooq, as well as Pakistan’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Zamir Akram, Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Health Khalid Magsi and Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr. Nosheen Hamid and Member Provincial Assembly Sindh Dr. Sanjay Gangwani.

The Group has been constituted to eradicate polio from Pakistan and to effectively protect children from other vaccine-preventable diseases through a truly national effort. It will bring together political leaders and influential personalities, public health professionals, journalists, diplomats, as well as religious and other community groups in support of immunization and specifically polio eradication. Members will further advise on the development and implementation of strategies and approaches aimed at repositioning Polio Eradication and Immunization as a high priority national agenda and harnessing renewed political and public commitment to the cause.

The government deserves particular credit for not appointing yet another Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication—a technical position that has, in the past, largely been used as a tool for political maneuvering and expansion of personal networks. The need to create this position arose in the wake of the 18th Constitutional Amendment when the erstwhile Ministry of Health was abolished, and there was no focal point at the federal level to engage with international donors and partners contributing to polio eradication in Pakistan.

In a statement announcing the decision here on Saturday, Dr. Zafar said, “The decision has been taken in consultation with the Prime Minister in the wake of the situation faced by the country due to the virus upsurge in the country during 2019 that has so far resulted in 91 Wild Polio Virus (WPV1) cases along with the recent emergence of circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus Type 2 (cVDPV-2) in northern Pakistan,” he added. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries that are holding back the world from becoming polio-free.

“The high burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in Pakistan has been a daunting challenge over the years. Moreover, the Ministry of Health was particularly concerned over the steep polio upsurge that has affected all provinces, touching alarming proportions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Ministry felt it imperative to put health as a shared national priority and decided to tackle the challenge through national consensus, unequivocal support and commitment across the political and social spectrum,” the statement informs.

The creation of the Group is expected to remove considerable confusion over who is calling the shots in Pakistan vis-a-vis polio eradication. One of the biggest blunders that has impeded the fight against polio is the separation of the polio programme from the Expanded Progarmme on Immunization (EPI). As such, the inclination to reintegrate the two comes as a very welcome development. However, accountability still remains a weak area. The government needs to understand that there are too many players involved in polio eradication; moreover, the uninterrupted availability of funds for the end-polio game makes it a lucrative choice for many appointees, who are pocketing hefty salaries and have no interest in polio being eradicated. Unless these people are shunted out, polio is here to stay.