PESHAWAR – Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), President, central leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Chairman Senate Committee on Commerce, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali has appealed to parents to vaccinate their children against polio and assured all-out support of his party in the war against the crippling disease.
He said this while inaugurating a three-day anti-polio drive in the province starting from July 14-16 at Peshawar Press Club on Friday. The ceremony was organised by Department of Health in collaboration with UNICEF.
Deputy Director Extended Programme on Immunization Dr Jan Baz Afridi, Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, Former Provincial Minister Maulana Amanullah Haqqani, President Peshawar Press Club Saiful Islam Saifi, President Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) Arshad Aziz Malik, UNICEF and WHO representative were in attendance.
Dilating upon his views, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali said that health teams alone cannot wipe out polio from the country, given the scale of the problem, unless every citizen joins hand in the fight against the deadly disease.
I appeal to the parents and to masses to play their individual roles in polio eradication and purge the soil of the menace, he said, adding that children were the asset of the country and should remain as such instead of becoming cumbersome liability on the society.
“Only two drops can protect our children from lifelong disability and we have the moral, religious and national responsibility to ensure the vaccination to our children in our villages, union councils, districts and in our province,” he added. He also paid rich tributes to the health teams for administering drops to the children in door-to-door campaign in the face of so many challenges.
Dr Jan Baz Afridi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was in great risk of polio due to shifting of mobile population from the adjacent Khyber Agency areas, which reported nine polio cases out of total 11 in Fata.
It was a matter of shame for the entire nation that despite having large resources and teams at our disposal, we are unable to eradicate polio, he maintained. Polio remains endemic in three countries of the world including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, he said and added that the country would face travel and visa restrictions if it fails in this front. He urged journalists to sensitize the masses about polio, as people listen to and trust in what they see and hear on media.
Earlier, Senator Ghulam Ali administered polio drops to the children to formally inaugurate three days anti-polio campaign in the province.