The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for polio in its latest report stated that Pakistan has ‘broken a promise to its children’. Pakistan’s fight against polio is lagging far behind other polio prevalent countries. It has termed the Prime Minister’s Polio Cell a ‘shadow boxing entity’ and recommended the establishment of a strong body to eradicate the crippling disease. The IMB, which meets twice a year, and consists of nine members, who are international experts, report that the situation in Pakistan is ‘dire’. It holds Pakistan responsible for significantly slowing down the global march towards eradicating polio.
Lately, the WHO slapped international travel restrictions on Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria over the countries' failure to control the spread of the deadly polio virus. The Government of Pakistan will have to put its act together to quickly and effectively address this vital issue. The statement of Pakistan’s Minister of State for National Health Services, which stated that Pakistan highly regards IMB and fully respects the recommendations of its technical advisers, which could not be more timely and appropriate. All this sounds very good but the matter is very serious and can only be effectively addressed, if the Government sincerely realizes the gravity of the situation and takes tangible and immediate measures to resolve it. It is not too late to get this done on war footing though I believe that it could have been done sooner. Why did the government wait to get the ban before they accelerated their campaign is a mystery!
M. FAZAL ELAHI,
Islamabad, June 14.