Daily Times

World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) South Asia Regional Director Jean Gough commended on Tuesday the government for making progress in tackling polio and expressed their full confidence in the country’s capacity to eradicate polio.

On the high-level mission to Pakistan, the regional directors of the two leading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) visited the National Emergency Operations Centre, where they were briefed on the country’s progress, as well as the remaining challenges and strategies being implemented to interrupt the virus transmission. The dignitaries also witnessed real-time data management in the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Control Room.

Earlier, Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta welcomed the regional directors to the national EOC and apprised them on political commitment across parties depicted during the National Task Force meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan in November.

“PM Imran Khan and the chief ministers are keen to see a polio free Pakistan and have reiterated their commitment to tackle polio eradication as a top priority on the public health,” Babar Bin Atta stated.

National Coordinator Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar elaborated in detail on the current virus epidemiology, immunity status and remaining challenges to be overcome to achieve zero polio in the country.

“We have a strong programme doing everything possible to identify and plug the remaining gaps. Continued community ownership and support will be imperative to finish the job in current low transmission season,” Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar remarked.

“Pakistan has made remarkable progress in protecting every child from polio, bringing down the number of children paralysed by the virus from almost 20,000 each year in the early 1990s to only eight cases so far this year,” WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari said. “Now, we must end polio once and for all and WHO will spare no efforts in supporting Pakistan to make this happen.”

“It’s our utmost priority to ensure polio eradication in Pakistan. We are encouraged by the great progress that the country has achieved in the past years and the efforts the country continues to make to identify and address the remaining challenges. We stand ready to provide the necessary support for the country to travel this last and difficult mile,” said UNICEF’s South Asia Regional Director Jean Gough.

While commending Pakistan’s progress in the polio situation, the two regional directors also stressed that in order to ensure a polio-free future, all partners must continue working closely together under strong government leadership, with no complacency. Once polio is eradicated, it will be crucial to sustain the gains through a strong system of routine immunisation.

Published in Daily Times, December 19^th 2018.