President Mamnoon Hussain on Thursday reiterated that polio eradication was among the top priorities of the government in the health sector and said that strong oversight mechanism had been put in place to ensure effective implementation of polio eradication campaign and programme in the country. The President said this during his meeting with Dr Robert S Scott, International Chair, Rotary International, who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Ms Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State, National Health Services, Regulation & Co-ordination, Ahmad Farooq, Secretary to the President, Ms Saba Mohsin Raza, Press Secretary to the President and Dr Jahanzeb Aurakzai, DG were also present during the meeting.

Commenting on the oversight mechanism for polio eradication, the President said various institutional apparatus and initiatives including National Task Force on Polio Eradication, National Emergency Action Plan 2013 and the Prime Minister's Polio Monitoring Cell had made significant progress in the fight against polio and would prove instrumental in making Pakistan a polio free country.

Due to strict oversight and monitoring at the federal, provincial and district level, the incidence of polio cases in Pakistan had decreased appreciably during the last two years, the President said, and expressed government's firm resolve to continue its close collaboration with the Rotary International to strengthen its national efforts in ridding the country and the world of that crippling disease.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013