Caretaker CM reiterates resolve to make KP polio-free province

Says in order to prevent cross-boarder transfer of poliovirus from Afghanistan, five border points have been established.

By Staff Writer On Oct 2, 2023

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Azam Khan via video-link attended a meeting of national task force on polio eradication held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar on Monday.

The caretaker chief minister reiterated the resolve of the provincial government to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa polio free and said that well-coordinated efforts are being made to this end in the province which are yielding encouraging results.

Azam Khan informed the forum that in the year 2014 there were a total of 247 cases of polio in KP which reduced to 93 in the year 2019 whereas at present there are only two active cases of polio in the province.

Lauding the efforts of the health department, civil administration, police, army and the partner organizations, Azam Khan said the role of frontline polio workers had been remarkable in fighting the menace.

The chief minister said since June 2022, a total of 14 various anti-polio drives were launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whereas a fresh drive under the National Immunization Drive (NID) has been launched from 2^nd October as elsewhere in the country adding that the provincial government would put in its best to achieve cent percent targets of the drive.

He said that due to the peculiar geographic situation of the province, it faces some challenges in polio eradication, and the provincial government, in collaboration with all the stakeholders taking measures to overcome those challenges.

He added that in order to prevent the cross-boarder transfer of poliovirus from Afghanistan, five border points had been established along the Pak-Afghan border to ensure polio drops to every crossing child adding that consistence presence of wild poliovirus in the environmental sample of Peshawar is of serious concern, and measures are being taken to address the issue on permanent basis.

Stressing the need of removing the misperceptions of some people about polio drops, Azam Khan termed the role of religious scholars (Ulema) as of vital importance, and suggested to develop a well-devised strategy to engage local Ulema to educate the people so that the polio program could be made more effective and result-oriented.