Polio would be eradicated by the end of this year provided misconceptions about polio vaccination were removed as it had been practically proved that there were no fatal or delirious contents in the vaccine, said Director General Health NWFP, Dr Jalil-ur- Rehman here on Friday.
Addressing a press briefing jointly arranged by Unicef, WHO and NWFP Health Department on "Polio Eradication Campaign" (PEC), Dr Jalil-ur- Rehman said the said campaign had been successful as could be gauged from the declining figures of the polio affected children, which were 199 in 2000 and were now 16 in number.
He said the three-day polio eradication and vitamin A campaign would be run in NWFP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) from September 12 up to 14. He held an appeal to the people to make it a success as the campaign could never achieve 100 percent results without their co-operation.
Enumerating the causes that hinders the campaign from achieving its target of polio free country, he said according to the findings of the research many children of less than one-year age group did not take polio vaccine.
He dispelled the propaganda of certain people who alleges that the vaccine contains certain harmful elements related with family planning. He clarified that the vaccine had been tested across the world including Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and was not harmful.
Replying a question, he said that a total of six polio affected cases have been reported in NWFP out of which one each in D.I Khan and Lower Dir districts whereas four cases have been detected at Bannu district.
DG, Health said that PEC would be run for another three years, as certain precautionary measures were necessary to be taken for preventing its outbreak in future.
Seeking media both print and electronic support, he said that media could play an effective role in highlighting the importance of the campaign and in waving off the commonly held misconceptions of the layman. He informed that the National Polio Campaign was run with the support of WHO and other organisations like Rotary Club and JICA.
DG Health also referred to the religious scholars' conference held on September 2, at Peshawar Medical College declaring polio drops free from harmful affects.
Provincial Officer Incharge Unicef, Dr Abdul Jamil said that community had to change their attitude towards the polio campaign adding that mere drafting of legislation can not resolve this problem.
He said tribal people demand certain incentives from the government in return for participating in such like campaigns. "Low immunity profiles, lack of awareness and gap of confidence between the government and the common people are some of the factors contributing towards the negative results so far as the PEC is concerned" he maintained and added that these gaps have to be minimised for rapid positive outcomes.
Provincial Chief of Unicef, Abdul Jabbar highlighted the efficacy of the polio vaccine and said that since the initiation of the PEC in this region 99 percent reduction had been effected in the disease.