Stern warning issued to underperforming polio supervisors

LAHORE:Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator and head of the polio programme in Punjab Khizer Afzaal has issued stern warning to the district health administrations, saying strict action will be taken against officials showing poor performance in polio campaigns.

He was presiding over a meeting held on Thursday to review performance of districts during the recently concluded Outbreak Response held in five districts. Due to persistent issues in polio campaigns’ quality, only Lahore and Rawalpindi District Health Management Teams were invited to the critical review.

Addressing the participants, the EOC coordinator expressed concern about lack of seriousness shown by district officials. “I know there is a lack of will which stems from favouritism and ignorance of merit in polio teams. Grey areas exist in both districts. I have information about officials who do not want to improve. Let me reiterate that this is last chance. I will not tolerate any leniency”, Afzaal said making a statement to Rawalpindi and Lahore health administrations.

He specifically expressed his displeasure about Deputy District Health Officers showing below par performance, urging them to stay in field with polio teams all the time. “Unvaccinated children, trainings issues, positive samples are constantly being reported from districts. So, the officers need to understand their problems and address them”, he instructed.

The EOC coordinator pointed out that if there were positive samples constantly for more than one month, children will be at risk. He said, districts needed to act quickly to prevent establishment of local transmission in Punjab.

Afzaal was briefed on government accountable persons data. He showed his dissatisfaction, saying “despite his repeated reminders”, volunteers still formed a major chunk of polio teams. He reiterated that volunteers had minimal stake in polio campaigns, so the campaign quality was bound to be compromised due to their participation. He directed the newly inducted CEOs of both districts to address the gap so that campaign quality is improved.

Issuing directions, he stressed that no retired or private person should be included as supervisor in polio human resource. Stressing on the importance of developing technically sound microplans (MPs), he directed the officials to personally conduct validations of the plans. He instructed the DDHOs to conduct field validation of at least 40 per cent microplans and stressed upon the CEOs to conduct a thorough review once the MPs validation is done. The EOC coordinator appreciated the districts for bringing about a change in missed children reporting. But, at the same time, he called for developing plans to cover identified missed children.

Afzaal highlighted the need to take strict action against officials who fail to bring about a positive change despite being alerted about negative performance trends. The EOC coordinator sought a fresh list of polio supervisors and workers performing duties in their union councils for a long period of time, highlighting the need to reshuffle them.