Total 76 polio cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA in 2011 against 98 cases reported during 2010. The number of registered cases in KP and FATA remained 21 and 55 respectively in the year as compared to 24 and 74 reported in 2010.
Buner, Bannu, Tank and the new Torghar were new districts where polio cases surfaced during 2011. Polio cases were reported from Charsadda, Swat and Hangu in 2010 but no case was reported from these districts in 2011.
The meeting was attended by Dr Azra Afzal, Convenor, Polio Supervision, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Prime Minister's Focal Person for Polio and Asma Alamgir, President of National Committee on Polio, besides the FATA Parliamentarians Munir Orakzai Noorul Haq Qadri, Abdul Malik, Akhunzada Chatan and Saleh Shah, Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir, Additional Chief Secretary FATA Fazal Karim Khattak, all the commissioners, DCOs, Political Agents, officials of Health departments of both the province and FATA. Representatives of Unicef, WHO, Rotary Club and other organisations were also present in the meeting. Secretary Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Secretary Administration FATA in their separate presentations updated the meeting on the implementation of NEAP during 2011.
The highest number of 21 cases was reported from Khyber Agency and 14 from North Waziristan Agency with apparent reason being the law and order situation. Under the accountability process, 7 Agency Surgeons were transferred and salary of 48 EPI personnel deducted. Besides, a Deputy Director of EPI was replaced with new one for poor performance.
This was stated in a presentation during annual review of Polio Eradication Initiatives in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held here in Governor House with Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Masood Kausar in the chair. The meeting decided to ensure 95 percent coverage during calendar year 2012 with special focus on the areas of refusal and inaccessibility.
Secretary Health, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gave presentation on 'implementation' of NEAP 2011 to the participants in which he highlighted the strategy of the provincial govt. to address the issue more vigorously.
He said that highest political leadership in the province was personally supervising the polio eradication campaigns. The Task Force for polio eradication in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA met 6 times within the time lines as per NEAP whereas 9 provincial review meetings were also held at regular intervals. Similarly, a provincial monitoring cell is also functioning at CM Secretariat.
The officials involved in the polio campaigns are accountable for their performance and action has been taken against 15 district level health officers on the basis of their poor performance. The meeting stressed need for mass awareness and motivation through an effective media campaign and made it binding on the administration right from the gross-roots level to take the issue more seriously and vigorously.
The Governor in his remarks stressed need for creating awareness among the masses to sensitise them on the need for polio eradication. "Polio eradication is not only a big national challenge but a tragedy also because after consistent efforts we are still able to save our children from this crippling disease", he remarked.
He said that the whole nation should take the responsibility of making the efforts successful. The Governor noted with concern that the country is one of the four countries at the global scene where Polio had become a big challenge and where the efforts for its eradication were still inconclusive. He, however, also noted that as compared to previous years, some headway had been witnessed during 2011 but still more efforts were needed to achieve the real objectives.
Dr Azra Afzal, Shahnaz Wazir Ali and Asma Alamgir were of the view that accessibility to the inaccessible children should be focused and urged that the polio vaccination teams must have a female worker so that the women folk and housewives could be easily and purposefully approached and motivated. They said that the teams should be constituted in a way that the female worker is accompanied by a male relative worker, where needed. They stressed the need for attentively addressing the areas of refusals, where the parents could be persuaded to make them realise the need for giving polio drops to their kids. The participants including the FATA parliamentarians made certain suggestions which was positively responded and the Governor assured them that their suggestions would be given due weightage and accommodated in the future strategy.