PM Imran discusses Pakistan’s fight against polio with Rotary International team

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s biggest priority is to eradicate polio from the country.

The prime minister met a delegation of the organization working towards polio eradication, where he was accompanied by Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza.

The SAPM briefed the session about measures taken to root out polio from the country, saying that four million children under the age of five were administered polio drops.

Dr Mirza said that in the ongoing drive, more than 100,000 security personnel and 250,000 polio workers performed their duties.

The prime minister said that the government will put to use all the possible resources to get rid of the disease, adding that measures to streamline cross-border (Pakistan and Afghanistan) movement are being taken.

The prime minister said that the government values every organization working to eradicate polio from the country. 

A day earlier, the army chief met with Rotary International’s four-member team.

Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa praised the efforts of Rotary International in Pakistan’s fight against polio, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

In the meeting, measures related to healthcare in Pakistan and the country’s battle against poliovirus were discussed.

The army chief praised the contributions of the RI in the eradication of polio in Pakistan.

He also expressed hope that the efforts will lead to completely rooting out the disease from the country.

In January, it was reported that the overall tally of reported polio cases across the country reached 134 in 2019, including 91 cases in KP, 24 cases in Sindh, eight in Punjab and 11 in Balochistan.