GIVEN the spike in polio cases witnessed this year touching the tally of fifty-three with forty-one reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone; it indeed had become imperative to revisit the existing strategy to reverse the upward trend in polio incidence.
It is satisfying to note that loopholes in the polio eradication strategy have been noted down by the authorities concerned and requisite steps have been planned to meet the challenge. Focal Person on Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta briefed a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday the new anti-polio strategy focuses on four new pillars including shift from push to pull, from disease control to eradication, ownership at the highest level and ensuring complete accountability at the operational level. Certainly the very first point is very important as the people cannot be forced to get their children vaccinated against polio as such an approach in the past has failed to produce any results. It is only through greater awareness and removing {mis-} perceptions against the vaccination that the anti-polio drives can be made successful and can achieve one hundred percent administration of vaccination to the children below the age of five years. This approach has become all the more critical in the wake of recent propaganda campaign against the vaccine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa especially in Bannu where one particular group of traders openly boycotted the vaccination campaign. There is a need to take local elders and religious scholars in the KP and tribal agencies fully on board to ensure complete immunization of children. Definitely social and mass media can be used to counter the propaganda against the vaccination but those involved in spreading false rumours against the vaccine should strictly be taken to task. Rise in polio cases indeed is not only embarrassing for us as a nation but it is also affecting the lives of our children. Greater responsibility rests with the parents also not to give ears or fall prey to fake propaganda and get their children vaccinated for a healthy future of their children. Since Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where these cases are being reported, we should not be the last one to eradicate it. Whilst Pakistan Army really deserves appreciation for extending full support to polio teams in reaching out to the children in far flung areas, it is also time for the provincial authorities to fulfil their responsibilities to purge the country of polio. Whilst PM Imran Khan has shown serious concern on recent spike in polio cases, we are confident that he will regularly monitor the progress of the new strategy as this will keep the authorities concerned on their toes to ensure effective immunization and awareness campaigns.
