Polio eradication: Punjab’s samples remain negative during last three months, says minister

LAHORE:Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Thursday informed that all of Punjab’s environmental samples for polio remained negative. She renewed the pledge to eradicate polio from Punjab during a meeting of Independent Monitoring Board held at the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education department, here.

She appreciated the team of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department and district administration for their efforts to eradicate polio from the province. She also thanked the IMB for the support. Dr Yasmin said the Punjab government was committed to polio eradication efforts and the meetings of the Provincial Task Force were regularly organised. She informed that all targets of the polio vaccination campaigns were being achieved in the province. The minister said that all samples collected in March and April were negative. She said the number of districts affected by polio had gone down from 15 to 5. “Despite corona pandemic, six polio campaigns were held,” she said and added that all resources were being mobilised to make Punjab polio-free. IMB team leader Professor Liam Donaldson appreciated the Punjab team under Dr Yasmin Rashid for making meaningful efforts to eradicate polio from Punjab and assured of the all-out support. Additional Secretary PSH Department shared the progress on polio eradication efforts. Additional Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Sundas Irshad, Director DG Health Services Dr Suhail Arshad, Dr Aslam Chaudhry, representatives of World Health Organisation and Unicef were present. IMB team leader and members Dr Ala Alwin, Dr Thomas and Dr Susan Goldstein attended the meeting via video link.