PESHAWAR, May 7: Minister for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, Saira Afzal Tarar, on Tuesday informed the National Assembly that the government was taking steps and preparing a strategy to eliminate poliovirus from the country.
According to the Pakistani media reports, she told the session that prayer leader of Ka’aba would also be involved in the polio campaign in Pakistan.
Ka’aba is a cuboid building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
The minister said a special polio vaccination campaign would start in the next month and that the assistance of Imam-e-Ka’aba would also be sought to convince people that polio vaccination is permissible and beneficial.
She said the poor law and order situation had also contributed to polio cases in the country as many children did could not be vaccinated in areas where polio teams faced life threats.
The World Health Organisation has imposed asked Pakistanis to produce polio vaccination certificate while travelling abroad. Following the WHO report, the government has decided establish polio counters at airports across Pakistan.
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