Pakistan will become a polio-free country soon: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD, Oct 28 (SABAH): Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has expressed the confidence that Pakistan will become a polio-free country soon.

Presiding over an important meeting on polio eradication in Islamabad on Monday, PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed the commitment to defeat challenges like polio collectively.

The Prime Minister said we will not be sitting calmly until polio is defeated forever. He also commended the efforts of the government polio team to eradicate the disease.

PM Shehbaz Sharif directed Coordinator National Health Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, Focal Person for Anti-Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq and Secretary National Health, to visit the most polio-affected areas in the country during the recent anti-polio campaign.

He also instructed to conduct a third party audit of the anti-polio drive. He also directed to evolve a comprehensive strategy regarding the immunity gap.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed regarding recent polio cases and anti-polio campaign in the country.

It was informed that currently, the number of active polio cases in the country has reached forty-one and out of this, there are twenty-five cases in which routine immunization is not optimal.

 The meeting was further briefed that the areas with better polio vaccination rates among children have lower polio prevalence.