After the recent discovery of three cases of polio in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called an emergency meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication.
During the course of the meeting, attendees were provided with an in-depth briefing on the anti-polio plan.
The Prime Minister referred to the new revelation of polio cases as “alarming.”
He went on to say that all of the country’s stakeholders—including federal agencies, regional governments, and international organizations—had worked diligently and contributed critically important services in an effort to eradicate polio in the country.
According to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, “The Government of Pakistan is thanks to foreign organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others, for their technical and financial support to the drive to eradicate polio.”
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In the months of April and May of this year, North Waziristan was the location of three confirmed cases of polio.
At the meeting were Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz (through video link), Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, and Balochistan Health Minister Ehsan Shah. Federal ministers Marriyum Aurangzeb and Abdul Qadir Patel were also present. Moreover, there were a number of other attendees, including provincial chief secretaries and foreign representatives of organizations.
