From
Dawn Media Group. In the picture, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, speaks with an Afghan boy as others look on during an polio vaccination campaign at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and Afghanistan launched a joint strategy on April 9 to stop transmission of polio virus through people frequently crossing the porous border.
The strategy was agreed upon in a two-day ‘Joint Cross-border Meeting,’ which concluded here on Friday.
The meeting was informed that over two million children under the age of five crossed the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan during 2009.Both the countries are considered as one epidemiological block with regard to transmission of the polio virus and are in the spotlight being the final frontiers in the global fight against the virus.
Addressing the meeting, Federal Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari called upon the World Health Organisation (WHO) in both the countries to develop a focus group which shall be tasked with ensuring coordination and dealing with cross-border issues.
Both the countries should hold immunisation campaigns on same dates to ensure synchronisation of efforts and also prevent cross-border movement of unvaccinated children, Mr Lashari suggested.
Dr Taufiq Mashal, who was representing Afghanistan, said the Afghan government was committed to strengthening coordination with Pakistan on polio eradication.
He expressed the resolve that the recommendations made and strategies agreed in the two-day meeting would be implemented.
Earlier, making a technical presentation to the meeting, Extended Polio Immunisation national manager Dr Altaf Bosan said a joint social mapping exercise at local level in the border districts of both the countries was being carried out to identify the channels of communication and influencers who could be targeted to achieve optimal results.
Dr Bosan said grand ‘jirgas’ would be convened in these areas to elicit support of the community elders and enhance public participation in the drive. He informed the participants of the meeting that efforts would be made to break down the cultural barriers and enhance coverage.
From Dawn Media Group. In the picture, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, speaks with an Afghan boy as others look on during an polio vaccination campaign at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.