Abdul Khaliq Qureshi Wednesday, October 09, 2024
ABBOTTABAD — Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa organized a two-day orientation session for leading paediatricians and healthcare providers of Bannu and D.I Khan Divisions in collaboration with provincial chapter of Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA) and with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) here at a local hotel.
The orientation session was aimed at chalking out a strategy for overcoming the existing challenges in eradication of polio virus in the endemic zone of Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The session was chaired jointly by Deputy Coordinator EOC Muhammad Zeshan Khan and President PPA KP Prof. Dr. Muhamamd Hussain and attended by Dr. Mushtaq Tanoli, District Health Officer, Abbottabad, Dr. Tayeba Mumtaz.WHO, cabinet members of PPA KP, EOC officials and 30 leading healthcare providers each of Bannu and D.I Khan Divisions.
Addressing the session, Deputy Coordinator EOC Muhammad Zeshan Khan said that polio eradication, being a national emergency, is among the top priorities of the government and the entire administrative machinery, law enforcement agencies and health department officials are actively participating in the whole process to oversee and manage ground challenges and ensure administration of polio drops to all eligible children.
Muhammad Zeshan Khan explained that in order to tackle the challenge of polio eradication and bridge the gaps in the program, the program has put in place various innovative strategies such as ring strategy, bikers’ strategy, Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) as well as the establishment of health camps which are bearing fruits and enabling the program to get access to unreachable pockets specially in Bannu and D. I Khan divisions and ensure the vaccination of maximum children. However, he pointed out, the growing trends of boycotts and misconceptions about polio vaccines especially in southern KP are proving to be a major stumbling block in ensuring the vaccination of all eligible children in vaccination drives
Highlighting the critical role of paediatricians in supporting the government to protect our children from this crippling disease and achieve the goal of polio free Pakistan, he said that as healthcare providers are regarded as a very significant and respected segment of society and people from all walks of life listen to them very seriously and act upon their advice, they can play a pivotal role in shaping the public opinion in favour of polio vacci
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