ISLAMABAD A meeting of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee on Polio met here on Wednesday to take stock of the polio situation and endorse strategies for the year 2010 to hit the virus hard in low performing areas. The meeting was presided by Federal Health Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin. It was attended by Dr Saghir Ahmed, Health Minister Sindh, Syed Zahir Ali Shah, Health Minister NWFP, Najeeb Naqi, Health Minister AJK, Secretaries Health from all the four provinces, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, global and country level experts on polio from international agencies. Speaking on the occasion, Federal Health Minister said there was the highest level of commitment to the cause in Pakistan and the President himself was keenly interested in seeing tangible progress in the initiative. As the implementation is at the district level, there is a need to hold the EDOs Health accountable, the Minister added. We need to urge and motivate the EDOs Health to deliver on polio eradication remarked the Minister. The key remaining challenges in eradicating polio were access in to some parts of the country and tackling management and service delivery issues in areas that are accessible. Earlier, Federal Secretary Health, Khushnood Akhtar Lashari in his welcome remarks said there was a need for strong coordination both within the health sector as well as with other sectors for pushing forward polio eradication. Lashari called for a mechanism at all levels to track implementation of the plans under the leadership of the provincial chief secretaries and DCOs at the district level. Despite challenges, the global experts have expressed optimism as 75 per cent of the country was polio-free in the year 2009, the Federal Secretary Health said. Addressing the gathering Director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Dr Bruce Aylward presented the global scenario of eradicating the polio virus. He said with new approaches poor performing countries in the past like Nigeria were doing well and the impact of involvement of sub-national and local leaders during the past year is beginning to show. For Pakistan there was a need to enhance accountability, he said adding that the new bi-valent polio vaccine being introduced this year will prove a major step. He said in security compromised areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan all parties need to be engaged adding that Taliban now support polio immunisation in parts of Afghanistan. Briefing the Health Ministers on the polio situation in Pakistan, the national head of the polio eradication programme, Dr Altaf Bosan emphasised the need for district specific plans to be tailored to local needs, culture and ground realities with specific reference to areas with unrest or accessibility issues. Dr Bosan informed that there were 15 highest risk districts for polio in all the four provinces and FATA for which special plans have been developed and finalised with the help of country level and international experts. He called on Health Ministers to provide personal oversight to the initiative, monitor the implementation regularly, ensure use of lady health workers in polio campaigns, promote public private partnership and allocation of specific and adequate resources for supervision and outreach activities of EPI.