Number of polio cases in the country has steadily declined from 306 in 2014 to eight in 2017 while no polio case has been reported this year so far. Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services, Farhana Qamar informed this to the National Assembly on Thursday during the question-hour.
She said that about 600,000 cases of polio related paralysis and death have been prevented in the country due to consistent efforts of the government. The polio eradication is being tackled as a national public health emergency by a task force led by the Prime Minster, she said, adding that two out of the three types of polio virus have been halted due to effective campaigns and immunization.
Qamar said that the government is fully committed to the cause of eradicating polio from its soil. The efforts for this purpose have been underway in Pakistan since 1994 and through concerted efforts so far over 600,000 cases of Polio related paralysis and death have been prevented in the country, she added.
She informed the House that since 2011, the polio has been tackled as a national public health emergency and National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication (NEAP) has been developed and implemented across Pakistan under the direct guidance of the National Task Force led by the Prime Minister and having on board provincial chief ministers, governor KP, the prime minister of AJK and chief minister Gilgit-Baltistan.
The yearly updated NEAP document defines a clear-cut action plan, milestones and priorities based on the epidemiology, remaining programmatic gaps and lessons learnt from the previous year. The task forces led respectively by the chief secretaries and commissioners is also in place at the provincial and divisional levels to oversee and provide support to the program activities implemented at district level by district polio eradication committees under deputy commissioners.
The parliamentary secretary said that since early 2015, the government has established a dynamic network of emergency operations centers (EOC) at each provincial headquarters and FATA, providing joint co-ordination platform to all stakeholders including different government departments as well as the national and international partners.
These national efforts being undertaken by almost 250,000 valiant frontline workers nationally are efficiently supported by law enforcement agencies and armed forces. She said the data driven program implementation, being vigilantly monitored at all levels by the program staff as well as independent third party, led to a turnaround in polio situation in the country. "Closest ever to the goal of virus interruption, we need to continue our efforts at the same pace throughout 2018 aiming to vaccinate every child in special campaigns as well as through routine immunization," she said.
To another question, Minister of Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani informed the House that progress on housing schemes in Bhara Kahu and Thallian in Islamabad is held up due to interventions by courts, NAB and Public Accounts Committee. Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf told the House that Hajj pilgrims are airlifted on 50:50 by PIA and Saudi Airlines under an agreement.