Polio immunization programme to continue till elimination of crippling disease from country: Azam Sawati

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Azam Khan Sawati Tuesday said the polio immunization programme would continue till the elimination of crippling disease from the country.

He was responding to the calling attention notice of Senator Aysha Raza Farooq who drawn his attention towards the rising number of polio cases in the country.

The minister said the donor agencies were playing a key role in eradicating polio virus helping Pakistan to fulfill its international commitments.

He appreciated the role of media in exposing false story to sabotage polio campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“I am assuring the house with full responsibility that the programme is in good hands and we want to take it further,” he said adding people associated with the programme were doing a great job and they deserved appreciation.

He said every single child was vaccinated at the Pak-Afghan border as 1.3 million children lives in Helmand and Qandahar province of Afghanistan who frequently visit sites across the border.

He said Prime Minster Imran Khan was heading national emergency programme on polio eradication, however, Babar Bin Ata was appointed a focal person of the programme to carry forward the agenda.

He said the federal government was providing all possible facilities to the polio eradication team to run the progamme effectively.