PM meets high-level delegation from Global Polio Eradication Initiative, reiterates Pakistan’s commitment to polio eradication.

Islamabad, December 02, 2022 – Speaking to a global delegation on polio, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said the end is in sight for polio eradication, with the virus successfully contained to a few districts in the south of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

“We realize that southern KP is the last front. If we can defeat the virus here, we can ensure the end of polio in Pakistan,” he said in the meeting on Thursday.

This year, 20 children have been paralyzed by polio in the country – all of them belong to the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Seventeen affected children are from North Waziristan, two are from Lakki Marwat and one from South Waziristan.

The delegation included the Chair of the Polio Oversight Board (POB) Dr Chris Elias, WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, UNICEF Regional Director George Laryea-Adjei and the UNICEF Global Director for Polio, Steven Lauwerier, together with senior leadership of the National Emergency Operations Centre and country representatives for Rotary, WHO and UNICEF.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the government and all stakeholders were fully aware of the situation and challenges on ground and were well-aligned on their shared goals.

“My government considers polio eradication a top priority and we are committed to wiping every trace of it from our soil,” he said. “We will not rest until we have done so.”

The senior delegation on polio also met Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel.

The Minister thanked the members for their commitment to ensure that children the world over are protected from the paralyzing poliovirus. He informed the delegation of his meeting with the Grand Sheikh of Egypt’s esteemed Al-Azhar University, which resulted in the cleric issuing a religious decree declaring polio vaccination a duty for all Muslims.

The POB is the highest decision-making and oversight body of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This is the POB Chair and Regional Directors’ second visit to Pakistan this year. The earlier visit was in May following the first polio case in Pakistan after nearly 15 months.