Role of society in polio eradication stressed
Role of society in polio eradication stressed
Haseeb ur Rehman
BalochistanLatest

QUETTA: Representatives from all segments of the province, including health officials, doctor organisations have reiterated their commitment to accelerate efforts to eradicate polio.

QUETTA: Representatives from all segments of the province, including health officials, doctor organisations have reiterated their commitment to accelerate efforts to eradicate polio.

Doctors also assured that they will guide parents to highlight the positive aspects of polio vaccine in addition to treating patients in hospitals and clinics.
“Polio vaccine does not contain any harmful health substance, as it is being sought from the Muslim country Indonesia”, Coordinator Emergency Polio Centre Balochistan Rashid Razzaq, Member Technical Advisory Group Dr. Iqbal Memon, Dr. Thmesgon of World Health Organisation, Secretary Health Balochistan Hafiz Abdul Majid, President Pakistan Medical Association Quetta Zone Dr. Kaleem Ullah, President of the Young Doctors Association Dr. Yasser Achakzai, renowned scholar Dr. Ata Ur Rahman, Dr. Bashir and other speakers addressed during a consultative workshop organised by the Emergency Operations Centre under the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program at a local hotel in Quetta.

Coordinator for Emergency operations centre Rashid Razzaq thanked the participants of the event and gave a detailed briefing on the current polio situation in the province.
Speakers on the occasion said that polio is a fatal and life-threatening disease that weakens children’s nerves and cripples them. The main reason for the spread of the virus is not taking care of the environment and cleanliness, while drinking unclean water and for not washing hands with soap can also leads to the transfer of germs, so it is important that people be aware of the hygiene.

Therefore, it is important to inform the public about cleanliness, they added.
Speakers said that older people are also the cause of polio transmission, as polio viruses increase their growth and progeny in the human body, so after the development of the older people in the stomach, the whole area is transmitted from one to another and then to the whole area.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio virus is still present, which mostly is due to false rumours and negative opinions about polio that may compel parents to deny the polio vaccine”, official told.

Officials urged that doctors, teachers, and scholars in particular should play an effective role in convincing parents for polio vaccination of their children. A child may get drop of polio vaccine 50 to 60 times from the birth to till the age of 5. “The polio vaccine is not just safe for the children but it has no side effects even after getting expired”, they said.

While speaking on the occasion, health experts said that a false impression about the polio vaccine being given that the said vaccines are being sent from non-Muslim countries, but the fact is that the vaccines in Pakistan are made in Indonesia, which is also the largest Muslim country in the world.

Representatives of doctors associations, health department officials, and members of the society pledged to work unanimously to end polio, as doctors vowed to treat patients in hospitals and clinics while guiding parents towards positive aspects of polio vaccine.

At the end of the ceremony a statement was issued saying that the polio virus is commonly found in children under the age of five, while one out of every two hundred persons is suspected of having a lifelong disability. In most cases, the polio virus affects the legs. This deadly disease eliminates the force of breathing in five to ten percent of children infected with polio, leading to their death.

The only way to protect children from this deadly disease is to provide polio drops. All children who have completed a regular course of polio vaccine are protected from this disease, statement tells.
It further said that Pakistan is the only country in the world where the risk of the polio virus is still high and the virus is rapidly transmitting from one child to another. In addition, an international emergency on polio eradication is implemented in the neighbouring country Afghanistan.

They said that success in the fight against polio can only be achieved if none of the children are deprived from the polio vaccine. Polio vaccine can be administered in children more than once, will not affect their health. Parents must provide vaccinations to their children up to five years of age. The risk of being infected with the polio vaccine is always at risk of being infected by the polio virus while in these children life expectancy becomes even more prevalent, it adds.
Unfortunately Pakistan has not yet succeeded in the fight against polio, which is mainly due to negative reaction to polio vaccine in the society. The polio virus is spreading rapidly and endangering the lives of children. Polio vaccine has been repeatedly declared healthy by specialist of health authorities, who suggests that everyone in society should play its role against this deadly disease so that the polio virus could be eradicated from the country permanently.