LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that collective efforts are needed for the eradication of fatal disease like polio from the country and solid measures will have to be adopted to save the children from this menace. He added that life of every child was dear to him and had timely steps been taken for precious lives could have been saved. He said that the heinous trade of spurious medicines was growing like cancer and he would not be contented until it was rooted out from the society. He was addressing a seminar on 'Eradication of Polio' arranged by the Health Department at Al-Hamra on Saturday, says a handout. Chairman Task Force Dr Asad Ashraf, members Provincial Assembly Dr Farrukh Javed, Dr Tahir Ali Javed, Advisor Saeed Mehdi, Chief Unicef Punjab Deepak Bhatachariya, WHO representative Dr Ahmad Darwesh, Secretary Health, senior doctors, commissioners, DCOs, police officers, EDOs (Education), district khateeb and ulema, district zakat officers and a large number of people representing various walks of life were present. The CM said that polio had been eradicated from the world but Pakistan was among a few unfortunate countries from where this killer disease had not been completely rooted out. He said though we could not counter natural calamities but we could minimise the losses with a sense of responsibility. He said that the question was how far we had succeeded in curbing this disease. He said that it was the responsibility of local governments which were a gift of former dictator Pervez Musharraf to take effective measures for checking the outbreak of polio, dengue and other epidemics. He said that the district governments were to blame for the negligence in this regard. He said media had played an important role in promoting public awareness adding that he himself got guidance from newspapers clippings and did not rely on the reports of the agencies, which were always misleading. He said that he was thankful to media for playing a positive role in promoting awareness about dengue virus. Shahbaz further said that he was ready to work round the clock for the provision of best healthcare facilities to children and there would be no dearth of resources. He said that only a few drops of polio vaccine were enough to save the lives of these children but due to the inefficiency of some individuals and departments concerned polio vaccination campaign was not being carried out properly. There was no paucity of resources, what we need was a sense of responsibility, he added. He said that effective measures were being taken for the improvement of health sector and 60 dialysis machines of best quality had been imported from Germany for the provision of free dialysis facilities to kidney patients. He said that these machines would be installed at district headquarters hospitals within a few days. He said though a huge amount had been spent on the import of dialysis machines but this money would not go waste if it helped in saving even one human life. The CM told that few days ago when he visited the Mayo Hospital, the oldest hospital of Pakistan, he was shocked to see the poor state of affairs. He said that operation theaters were littered with empty glucose bottles, used cotton and bandages while the toilets were filthy. He said that water was not available in the bathrooms due to broken taps. He said that provision of free medicines in emergency and other wards would be useless if due attention was not paid to the principles of hygiene and sanitary conditions. He said that an extensive campaign had been launched against spurious medicines and special teams had been constituted in this regard. He said he would not be contented until this heinous trade was uprooted from the province. He said that there was also a need to check the activities of quakes. He said that there was need for sincerity and determination for improvement of health sector as well as condition of hospitals. He said if we could become a nuclear power, we could also work wonders in other sectors. Earlier, Secretary Health Anwaar A Khan while highlighting the aim and objectives of the seminar, informed that the campaign against polio will have to be launched with a new vigor and zeal and all departments will have to make concerted efforts in this regard. Dr Asad Ashraf, Deepak Bhatachariya and Dr Ahmad Darwesh also addressed on the occasion.