Pakistan to prepare national immunisation plan to eradicate polio

Pakistan Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar has said that a National Routine Immunisation Plan was being prepared to permanently eradicate poliovirus from the areas in the country where the government lacked access.

According to the Dawn, Tarar said that a comprehensive immunisation plan would be aimed at eradicating the virus existing in the Tirah valley in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

She further said that the federal government was providing Rs. 100 million for reproductive, child and maternal health in Balochistan, adding that the federal government would support the Balochistan authorities in their efforts to eradicate polio.

Tarar said the National health Ministry would arrange video conferences with all provincial governments so that the officials of the health departments in the provinces would not have to visit Islamabad.

She said that despite the fact that anti-polio campaigns have faced problems in areas where the law and order situation had worsened, a nationwide drive would soon be launched, adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was paying special attention to solving the problems of Balochistan in order to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of the province.