Islamabad - Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar has urged the national and provincial immunisation departments to review their performance after every six months.
The minister was talking to the participants at a concluding session of the two days National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) review, stressed the need for periodic reviews and better internal coordination to bridge gaps and address loopholes in the system.
“Strengthening Routine Immunisation is one of the top agenda of health ministry,” said Saira Tarar. “The finding of the latest PDHS survey on the Immunisation coverage of the provinces is an eye opener for us to improve the current state of affairs”, she further added.
She highlighted the role of the ministry and ensured the un-interrupted supply of vaccines to all provinces and significance of coordination for a uniform policy and uniform performance. According to the 2012-13 PDHS, the current vaccination coverage rate of children age 12–23 months is 54 per cent in Pakistani with 66 per cent in urban areas and 48 per cent in rural areas.
The annual EPI review was attended by Secretary NHSRC Ayub Sheikh, Director General NHSRC Dr Assad Hafeez, National Programme Manager EPI, Dr Saqlain Ahmad Gilani, provincial EPI managers, development partners.
All provinces presented their current situation of the EPI programmes and during their group works prepared plans for next six months.