A high-level Rotary delegation meets Pak Prime Minister on polio eradication status

The increase in Polio cases in 2019, mainly in ­Pakistan, has caused serious concern to Rotary and its partners. In this background, a high-level team of Rotarians comprising RI President Elect Holger Knaack, TRF Chair Elect K R Ravindran and IPPC Chair Michael McGovern visited Pakistan in the first week of February. They were accompanied by incoming Trustee and IPPC Member PDG Aziz Memon of Pakistan, who made all the logistical arrangements.

In a high level review meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and separately with Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Bajwa, Rotary was assured of the unstinted support and cooperation of both the Army and the civil forces to ensure they reach every child in every nook and corner of Pakistan with the requisite vaccine, Trustee Chair-Elect Ravindran told Rotary News.

“The Prime Minister acknowledged that Pakistan had missed a step last year when he had just won the election and a transition government was in power. But he assured us that his Government considered it its primary function to eliminate Polio and had already taken a series of highly effective organisational steps to manage the vaccination programme.”

He added that the Army Chief had also assured them that “he would do everything necessary to ensure that his forces reach the most inaccessible areas and also take every step to shut down the porous border with Afghanistan.”

Both the Prime Minister and the Army Chief confirmed that already much headway had been made in their efforts to build a fence covering the 1,300-mile border with Afghanistan. “They were extremely appreciative of the efforts of Rotary International and understood the significance of both the President Elect and the Trustee Chair Elect calling on them together to highlight their concern at this critical stage of the polio eradication programme,” Ravindran added.

He said it was clear to the team that Pakistan was making huge efforts in resources and organisation to ensure the setback of last year was not repeated. Health Minister Zafar Mirza confirmed that in the last round just completed approximately 40 million children were vaccinated and the number of missed children was under one per cent.

The Rotary team also visited and inspected the National Emergency Operations Centre where a hi-tech data collection system is in operation to monitor progress in real time, and cold rooms to store the vaccines.

An RI press release said that at the end of the visit RI President Elect Knaack expressed his satisfaction with the efforts taken by the Pakistan Government to eliminate polio. He said, “We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with key leaders in Pakistan to learn about renewed efforts to eradicate the disease once and for all. We’re confident that with the support of the government and the Army, Pakistan will get the job done.”

Added Ravindran: “Polio eradication is a massive effort that will require all elements of society to band together and work towards our ultimate goal of ensuring no child is ever again paralysed by polio.”

During their visit, the Rotary delegation met with local Rotary leaders from Pakistan, which is home to over 230 Rotary clubs and nearly 3,400 members.

Ravindran was optimistic that there would be “a tangible drop in the number of cases this year”, and added that he intends to call the next International PolioPlus Committee (IPPC) meeting in Pakistan, where all the partners including WHO, UNICEF, Gates Foundation and CDC will also be present. “With the wild poliovirus circulating only in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we need to focus all our energies in that area”. This was the first time the IPPC would have its meeting in Pakistan.