Donors pledge $270 million grant to curb tuberculosis, polio and AIDS

International donors would provide $270 million grant for the elimination of TB, polio and HIV/AIDS out of which $62 million would be spent on the eradication of TB from the country. Punjab Health Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal stated this while talking to different delegations here on Saturday.
He averred the provincial government was attaching highest priority to health and education and the budgetary allocations for the health sector had been enhanced by 50 percent while additional resources were provided to accelerate the efforts for prompt achievement of millennium development goals (MDGs), whereas the major focus is on protecting the peopl's health through strengthening the primary health care and disease preventive programmes.
The minister also said the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) aims at reducing morbidity, disabilities, and mortality caused by seven vaccine preventable diseases namely childhood tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, neonatal tetanus, and Hepatitis-B by vaccinating all children below one-year of age, in addition, all pregnant women are vaccinated against tetanus. The priority targets of the programme are polio eradication followed by elimination of neonatal tetanus and measles, he added.
Chaudhry Iqbal said the provincial health department was successfully running EPI and Gavi programmes to save the children from preventable diseases and last year EPI coverage remained 81 percent in the province. He appealed to the Ulema to come forward and help the government to create awareness among public against the fatal diseases and to persuade the parents for the success of EPI.
He said the TB DOTs programme is being implemented in 35 districts of Punjab and the chest specialist at the DHQs and a designated medical officer at the THQs were responsible for carrying out DOTs related activities. He said the government was taking concrete steps for the complete eradication of TB and medicines worth Rs 1 billion were being distributed among the patients of TB free of cost in the small districts of the province.