LAHORE – Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal has paid tributes to polio worker Ms Shabana Badr who died while performing duties during the ongoing campaign in Bahawalnagar.
Ms Shabana Badr was a polio volunteer for the last six years and a mother of three. She fainted while going house to house to vaccinate not available children and passed away.
The EOC coordinator acknowledged that polio worker died in the line of duty so will be considered a martyr. He praised all polio workers going out in the line of duty saying Pakistan will be polio free soon because of the dedication and hard work of polio workers, especially females.
The EOC coordinator pledged to provide safe and secure working environment for polio teams, noting that the female workers constituted the backbone of the polio programme.
“The polio programme is indebted to its female polio workers who work hard in very difficult areas with a singular goal to reach every child”, he said.
“More than 80 per cent of polio teams in Punjab have at least one female team member. But their strength in numbers is not the only reason why women are crucial to polio eradication efforts. They are, in fact, behavioural change agents”, he said.
“It is because of them that programme is able to reach and access every child inside houses. Without their participation it would not be possible to rid Pakistan of polio”, he said.
Highlighting the importance attached by the health department to polio workers, he underscored that it took utmost care of health workers injured or killed in the line of duty.
He assured that a number of initiatives were under consideration which were solely dedicated to improving work environment of polio workers.
