Caretaker Health Minister Vows All Out Support For PEI In Maiden Visit To EOC

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jun, 2018 ) :Caretaker Minister for Health and Population Welfare Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Akbar Jan Marwat has said that polio eradication was a national emergency and strong coordination among all the stakeholders under the umbrella of health department was the only viable way forward to rid the region of the menace for good.

He said this during his maiden visit to Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here on Wednesday where he was given detailed briefing by EOC Coordinator Atif Rehman on polio eradication initiative, challenges and way forward.

Secretary Health KP Abid Majeed, Director General Health Services, Dr Ayub Rose, Director EPI Dr Akram Shah, Technical Focal Person BMGF Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, Team Lead UNICEF Dr Johar, WHO representative Dr Ilauddin, Provincial Team Lead N Stop Dr Ijaz Ali Shah and relevant staff of health and partner organizations was present on the occasion.

Dilating on his viewpoint, Akbar Jan Marwat appreciated the strong commitment of the health department for polio eradication and for improving other healthcare indicators in the province saying that he will be happy to play his due role in polio eradication during his tenure in the office.

He informed the Minister about the hard work that goes into the efforts for polio eradication and paid homage to the frontline workers for braving many challenges in the field to materialize the dream of polio free Pakistan.

Earlier, briefing Minister for Health, EOC Coordinator Atif Rehman, told about the provincial and national management structure of the programme, establishment and objective of the EOCs to provide a common platform to government and technical partners for making joint strategies for PEI, its monitoring and implementation mechanism.

Atif Rehman said that the programme was on the right track with constant decline in the number of cases which were recorded at 68 in 2014 in the province while one case was reported in 2017 whereas no case wasreported from the province so far showing the efforts and hard work of theteams under the guidance and ownership of the government.