By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features
Services)
Dr Robert S Scott Chair,
International Polio Plus, Rotary International and Aziz Memon, Chair, Pakistan
Polio Plus, Rotary International, have urged the
government to take steps to re-establish the essential functions that were
previously undertaken by the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring and Coordination
Cell in the interest of the children of the country.
In a letter addressed to the Caretaker
Prime Minister, Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, with a copy sent to the Prime Minister-in
waiting, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, the Rotary officials have regretted the
recent closure of the Prime Minister’s
Polio Monitoring Cell, merged with the old system, which is incapable of
delivering routine immunization or running the Polio Eradication Initiative,
due to serious administrative issues.
The senior Rotary officials have
drawn the attention of the concerned authorities towards the particular
deficiencies of the EPI were highlighted by the Federal Ombudsman in his recent
‘Report on Measles Outbreak in Pakistan.’
‘The decision to close the
Monitoring Cell was done in haste, without giving any thought to future action
or implementation. The programme will stall key initiatives taken by the polio
cell to completely stop transmission of polio from Pakistan by the end of
2013,” they said in a jointly signed letter sent to the Office of the Prime
Ministers.
“Eradication of Polio is a global
priority. Pakistan, being one of the only three polio endemic countries
of the world, is under intense pressure from the international community to
take drastic steps for eradication of this disease and actively contribute in
the Global Eradication of Polio,” Scott and Memon stated.
“The Government of Pakistan in
collaboration with partner agencies approved the National Emergency Action Plan
(NEAP) for Polio Eradication with responsibilities of implementation to the
District Administration,” they added.
“To achieve this objective, the
Government of Pakistan had in 2011, established a Cell known as the Prime
Minister's Polio Monitoring
& Coordination Cell, to
monitor and coordinate efforts being made at the National and International
level on Polio Eradication. In addition the PM monitoring cell also assisted
the National Task Force on Polio Eradication headed by the Prime Minister,” the
Rotary officials recalled.
“The Cell comprised of Public
Health Specialists and Experts in Polio Eradication. It has achieved major success,
and witnessed tremendous progress in this area, which has been recognised and
appreciated by the International Health Forums like the World Health
Assembly and the Independent Monitoring Board based in London. Due to untiring
efforts, polio cases have dropped from 198 in 2011 to 58 cases in 2012 and 9
cases in 2013,” they concluded.
