Taking notice of another polio case surfacing in Hyderabad, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday lamented that while the world is exploring new avenues of development and progress, Pakistan is still stuck in a loop trying to eradicate the poliovirus.
Shah said that the new case of polio in a two-and-a-half-year-old boy had shocked him, adding that the government’s continuous efforts are not producing tangible results due to the non-cooperation of parents and refusal cases.
“Each refusal case also contributes to the spread of the poliovirus in the environment,” he pointed out, and urged parents to save their children from the crippling disease by voluntarily allowing them to be administered polio vaccines.
He said that with the emergence of a new case, the country now has 24 cases, five of them in Sindh. “The failure to eradicate the poliovirus has a cost, which not only our children are paying but we as a nation will also have to pay.”
He stressed that through the provincial health department, his government has been launching and will continue to launch door-to-door anti-polio campaigns, but parents must provide good health, education and a future to their children.
“Now it’s the parents who have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the government and the polio workers to eliminate the poliovirus.”
The CM directed the health department to conduct an inquiry into the emergence of the new polio case and frame its recommendation so that necessary policy decisions can be made accordingly.
‘Uphold truth’
In his message in connection with World News Day, Shah said the day’s theme is ‘Choose Truth’, which itself is a loud cry for the people engaged with the news industry.
He said that truth is the truth if it is presented in true letter and spirit, but even if a single word of untruth or exaggeration is added, the sanctity of it is tarnished.
In this era of social media everyone has a tool and strength to voice their concerns, but voices are being strangled by falsehoods and the rumour mills, he added.
He urged print and electronic media, as well as social media, to uphold the truth by making a loud cry to distinguish between the truth and falsehood.