Pakistan Making Significant Progress In Fight Against Polio

Focal Person to Prime Minister Imran Khan on polio eradication Babar Bin Atta Wednesday said that the PTI-led government was making significant progress in eradicate polio from the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jun, 2019 ) :Focal Person to Prime Minister Imran Khan on polio eradication Babar Bin Atta Wednesday said that the PTI-led government was making significant progress in eradicate polio from the country.

Talking to a private news channel, he stressed upon the need for larger efforts to aware masses about the distressing effects of the crippling disease , especially for future of the country.

He requested the media to play a role to create awareness that polio vaccine is safe.

For the first time in the country's history, FIRs will no more be registered against parents refusing administration of polio drops to their children, adding 3-day polio campaign has begun in the country as per schedule with not a single incident of violence being reported in the drive.

"This is first step in New Pakistan's journey of change," he said.

Polio Eradication Initiative was a national programme therefore PTI government was committed to provide an all-out support to ensure satisfactory conduct of campaigns in secured environment, he added.

Babar bin Atta hoped to achieve the target without having to handcuff the parents refusing vaccination.

He further explained , the PTI government had decided to reach out to Facebook and YouTube (Google) management in a bid to remove all anti polio vaccine propaganda videos and other materials as they were misguiding the public with negative propaganda .

He mentioned that across the world had shown that anti vaccine movements were always confronted through logic and technical facts but with the unrestricted out pour of information through social media, authenticity of the content is always debatable.

Baber Bin Atta said , "the parental refusals due to misconceptions regarding the vaccine are emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication".

He said despite challenges every effort had been made to stop virus transmission in the reservoir areas of the country and special attention was paid to cover visiting families and children on the move.

He also thanked the international partner agencies for providing technical and financial support to Pakistan Polio Eradication Program.

He expressed satisfaction over the successful completion of the special anti-polio drive saying that the campaign went well and we will get positive results in the end of October.

"We will soon gain the trust of the community by adopting a multi-pronged strategy, he hoped, adding, the results of which would be visible sooner than later.

Pakistan would soon be declared as a polio-free country, he added.

Baber said, Polio eradication was a national cause and every effort would be made to make Pakistan a polio-free country.

He said government, through World Health Organization, haf arranged vaccine worth millions of rupees to protect children against polio.

He urged media, civil society and religious organizations to work with the government in its anti-polio efforts.