No Polio Case Detected In Sindh This Year So Far, CM Told

No polio case has been detected in the province of Sindh this year so far, however Karachi and Qambar-Shahdadkot district have been rated as high risk areas.

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jun, 2018 ) :No polio case has been detected in the province of Sindh this year so far, however Karachi and Qambar-Shahdadkot district have been rated as high risk areas.

This was informed to caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Fazal-ur-Rehman in a review meeting of performance of polio immunization programme, here at the CM House on Monday, said a statement.

The CM Sindh was told that no polio case has been detected in Sindh as compared to last year when two polio cases were reported, from Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gadap -- both areas of Karachi.

In 2018 to date, Pakistan reported three cases (all from district Dukki of Balocistan), and Afghanistan eight cases. In Sindh, all six districts of Karachi are still classified as districts of highest risk.

The virus isolated from environmental sites (taken from sewage system), indicating ongoing virus transmission. ln Karachi, sample are taken from 11 sites every month.

The CM Sindh directed the Principal Secretary to call a meeting of provincial task force on polio, on May 2, so that a strategy could be evolved to face the challenges.

The meeting was attended by Provincial Coordinator POCC Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Secretary Health Fazal Pechuho, Provincial Coordinator Emergency Operation Center (EOC) (Fayaz Jatoi and Aziz Memon of International Polio plus Committee Rotary International.

The CM Sindh was told that all polio activities are guided by the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP).

Globally, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only remaining countries with polio.

In May only Machhar Colony Gadap came positive. In Northern Sindh, sample were taken from six sites and Kamber became positive.

On this, the CM Sindh said that the situation could not be termed as normal and all the stakeholders, partners and civil society have to work together to make Pakistan polio-free zone.

The CM Sindh was told that the three tiers structure provides oversight and direction to the polio programme.

The Provincial Task Force led by Chief Minister and/or Chief Secretary meets quarterly and has membership of secretaries, Health and education, all Commissioners, LEAs, and provincial heads of partner agencies.

Divisional Task Forces led by Commissioners operate in all six divisions with membership of the DCs, DHOs/THOs and their district teams.

District Polio Eradication Committees (DPECs) have been formed in all 29 districts, led by deputy commissioner.

DPECs are supported by the District Polio Control Rooms (DPCRs) which are responsible for the day-to-day running of all polio-related activities in the districts. Most DPCRs function throughout the month.

The provincial Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is the technical lead at the provincial level and coordinates all activities between government, partners and the Federal level (National EOC).

The epidemiological situation in Karachi has improved and virus from environmental site has restricted to only Gadap.

After the outbreak in lower Sindh (Badin, Thatta, Sujawal) between September -December 2016, these districts received significant inputs (human resources, monitoring, supervision, accountability) with a subsequent improvement in performance quality. This improvement has been sustained.

In Northern Sindh, all polio eradication activities are well managed by DPCRs under joint leadership of DC/DHO.

Routine immunization in Sindh remains weak and still leaves too many young children without immunity against polio.

Large efforts have been made together with the EPI programme to improve the situation, progress remains to be guarded.

Currently, a large- scale measles campaign is being jointly conducted in Karachi (and later also in other districts of Sindh) by EOC and EPI.

Fayaz Jatoi, highliting the challenges, said that stopping virus transmission in Karachi requires sustained polio activities of highest quality in selected high-risk areas of the city.

"We need to minimize the number of still missed children soon after every campaign and special strategy may be formulated for permanently missed children focusing on refusal conversion." He said that the energy and morale of the workforce is in a precarious balance back-to-back activities for many months, high expectations, constant pressure, punitive measures, inadequate support etc have taken a toll on front line workers and led to high staff turnover.

Human resource issues remain a key obstacle, including the ability to fill vacancies with motivated, well-performing staff both in government and with partners.

Highest-quality surveillance becomes critically important as ever fewer polio cases are reported now. Surveillance must be able to detect and quickly investigate each weakness case to be sure that zero means zero.

There is frequent movement of High Risk mobile Population (HRMP) from Quetta, KP and FATA to Karachi and other parts of Sindh.