WEB DESK: As many as 11 officials were suspended owing to negligence during the ongoing polio campaign in Sindh, the chief secretary’s spokesperson confirmed.
On the directives of Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah, the Karachi Commissioner issued a notification for the same. The suspended polio officials were deployed in various subdivisions of Malir and West districts.
Among those suspended are Munshi Zafar Khaskheli, Ali Gul Kalhoro, and Sarfaraz Katpar, Nooruddin Jakhrani, Mazar Khan Bijarani, Amanullah, Saleem Raza, Munshi Mumtaz Kalhoro, Abid Shah, Dahni Bakhsh, and Abdul Qadir.
Shah stated that the district administration, revenue department, local government, and town employees will remain in the field to assist polio teams, and strict action will be taken against government employees absent from polio duty, he added.
Nationwide polio drive
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on February 2 had launched a nationwide anti-polio campaign for the year 2025 (Feb 3-9) by administering polio drops to children under the age of five.
Addressing the launching ceremony, the prime minister reaffirmed his government’s determination to eliminate the polio disease from Pakistan. He said that the national polio vaccination drive would target millions of children in the country to save their future and health.
A record 70 poliovirus cases had been reported in Pakistan in the past year, while 420 polio cases have been reported from the entire country in the past nine years.
Over the past 12 years, Pakistan has spent over USD11 billion to eradicate polio. In addition to this, Pakistan has also received USD one billion from international donors in five years to defeat the poliovirus.
Recently a report revealed disturbing news about poliovirus in Pakistan, saying that the virus was found in sewage samples in 17 districts across the country. Out of these 10 samples were from districts in Balochistan, including Quetta, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Noshki, Barkhan, Mastung, Duki, Qila Saifullah, Kech and Sibi.
The virus was also found in Lahore, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala and DG Khan in Punjab, as well as in Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Poliovirus was also found in sewage samples in slums adjacent to the federal capital Islamabad.
The continued prevalence of poliovirus in Pakistan raises serious questions about our health system, especially considering that the fight against this disease that has been going on for 36 years around the world.
In the past our authorities have always come close to declaring that Pakistan has become a polio-free country but stopped short; and till date we have not been able to completely get rid of this terrible virus. Many governments have proven their seriousness in fighting this disease, but still Pakistan has not been able to completely win this war.