ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has launched a countrywide polio campaign to continue till October 8. Forty-four million children up to age five are going to be administered vaccine.
The premier after administering the vaccine to the children stated that the caretaker government is starting a five-day polio campaign from Monday (October 2).
He said in this national campaign, 350,000 polio workers whom he described as the real heroes, would take part and the entire government would stand by them.
ECNEC approves Polio Emergency Plan worth $1784.93m
He expressed full faith that with the government’s commitment and the international community’s support, the country would win the war against polio to save future generations from this menace.
The caretaker premier also urged religious scholars to consider it as their religious, moral, and national obligation and take part in the campaign as a mission for the future of the children. The campaign to eradicate polio from the country would continue till October 8. Awareness campaign is also being started.
Earlier, sources said that an umbrella PC-I for polio eradication was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on a summary moved by the Ministry of National Health Services, and Regulations that 44 million children’s lives would be at stake if polio activities were forced to halt from October 2023 onwards.
The Ministry of NHSRC also pointed out that the implications of polio go beyond Pakistan’s borders, with the risk of increased global isolation due to travel restrictions looms large, which could further exacerbate the crisis. The Ministry of NHSRC also put up a summary to the caretaker premier, urgently seeking his endorsement for recommendations with regard to the duration of the umbrella PC of the project.
On a previous summary, the umbrella PC-1’s duration was approved by the ECNEC for one year and provinces would prepare their PC-Is within one year so that further ownership of the programme implementation may be shifted to the provinces with their own responsibility to acquire loan and liability to pay back directly.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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