Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: As the polio eradication drive is all set to start in the capital fromSeptember 26 but concerns are being expressed by the relevant officials about its success.

The key reasons for the possible failure of the drive is non-availability of human resources in concerned departments, reach and access to populace in transition and willingness of people to administer polio drops to name the few.

It is feared that involvement of half a dozen institutions in anti-polio drive will be an example of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Human resource and material expertise from five different departments namely ICT Administration, MCI, CDA, NIH and CADD are entrusted with polio eradication campaign in Islamabad.

It was reliably learnt by Daily Times that coordination and cooperation between the afore-mentioned departments is lacking in many aspects. Out of total 24 seats of Medical Officers in Islamabad Capital Territory, 16 seats lying vacant for past so many years. Only 8 officers are presently serving entire capital.

CDA and MCI, on other hand, suffer from acute shortage of personnel and machinery. At the moment employees of 50 directorates are performing duties on many projects. Many seats of doctors, paramedics and administration personnel are vacant for past many years in CDA Hospital.

Recently, government announced to build 46 new hospitals around the country, three in Islamabad. It is pertinent to mention here that at present there are only two government hospitals to cater to the needs of general public namely Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic).

Ministry of CADD, which is responsible for health and education in capital after devolution of subjects of health and education to provinces, PIMS, Polyclinic and schools, colleges of Islamabad come under its watch. With schools and colleges the staff at both hospitals is already very short, it is yet to see how CADD will manage to provide the personnel it promised for polio eradication campaign and who’ll substitute them during their absence.

The provision of security for 600 polio teams is bound to require a large number of police personnel to prevent any untoward incident. The police force of Islamabad is already under stress and faces acute shortage.

When contacted for a comment, Abdul Sattar Isani, Additional Deputy Commissioner General said that the capital administration is fully prepared and appropriate measures have been taken in this aspect. ‘We’ve planned everything and make sure that we reach the target we’ve set this year in our bid to eradicate polio,’ he added.

The civic authorities are contributing to make this polio eradication campaign a success.

Mayor and acting Chairman CDA Sheikh Anser Aziz is spearheading the campaign with help from CDA, while speaking to Daily Times he said, “We’ll provide personnel from all directorates including HRD, Environment, DMA, PR, Finance and all other departments. ‘We’ll also hire volunteers from Union Counsels and other willing individuals,” he said.

When asked about the transportation and other factors involved, he replied that it will be arranged before September 26. “Government will provide polio vaccination teams with full security and we’ll supervise the whole campaign and ensure its success”, he concluded.