Director General World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has underscored the need for sustained investments to strengthen immunisation service delivery and use of every opportunity for delivering lifesaving vaccines to children in Pakistan.
The DG WHO Tuesday concluded his official visit to Pakistan, calling for a final push on polio eradication and commitment to ensure that all people in the country can obtain the healthcare they need.
Addressing a joint press conference along with the visiting dignitary, Federal Minister for National Health Regulations and Coordination Aamir Mahmood Kiani thanked the DG WHO for undertaking this visit to Pakistan.
"We had important deliberations on a wide range of areas of collaboration with a view to uplift the health sector in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan," said Kiani, adding that the government is undertaking major reforms in the health sector and in this context the WHO can work with the government to improve healthcare for our people.
"I look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the WHO and our collective hard work to end polio, which is of the utmost priority to the government, and to improve general health outcomes in Pakistan," added the minister.
Dr Tedros visited a basic health unit in Shah Allah Ditta, a village in Islamabad, where a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the WHO and the government of Pakistan to develop a model healthcare system for universal health coverage in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
During his visit to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for Polio Eradication in Islamabad, Dr Tedros commended the effective work of all partners as 'one team under one roof,' which helped reduce the number of polio cases in the country from 306 in 2014 to only 8 in 2018. "The key to this progress has been the establishment of the EOCs and the 'one team' ethos that expect all government entities and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative partnership to work together under one roof," Dr Tedros said. "Build on that great achievement and finish the job. Our New Year's wish is 'zero' polio by end of 2019. The children of Pakistan and the children of the world deserve nothing less."
The DG congratulated the government of Pakistan on the successful implementation of nationwide measles campaign in October 2018, which helped vaccinate more than 37 million children against the disease.
During his meetings with high-level officials, Dr Tedros complimented the government on a number of new initiatives taken to improve the health system in Pakistan.
Dr Tedros also said that the WHO would provide all the necessary support to implement the Prime Minister's National Health Programme and to address the critical issue of stunting and malnutrition in Pakistan which is a major barrier to achieving health for all.