LAHORE  -   Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal has pledged to provide safe and secure working environment to polio teams, saying the female workers constituted the backbone of the polio programme.

He reiterated this at a ceremony organized to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Director General Health Services (DGHS) Office. The DGHS, Dr Muhammad Ilyas, Director Expanded Programme on Immunization, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, and polio eradication partners also participated in the ceremony. 15 health workers were awarded appreciation certificates for their outstanding performance during the polio eradication campaigns in the last year.

“The polio programme is observing the day to thank its female polio workers who work hard in very difficult areas to eradicate polio from Pakistan”, underlined the head of the polio programme.

“More than 80 per cent of polio teams in Punjab have at least one female team member. But their strength in numbers is not the only reason why women are crucial to polio eradication efforts. They are, in fact, behavioural change agents”, acknowledged the EOC coordinator, lauding the efforts of the female polio workers in reaching every household. “It is because of them that programme is able to reach and access every child inside houses. Without their participation it would not be possible to rid Pakistan of polio”, reiterated the EOC coordinator. The head of the polio programme emphasised that health department, on the directions of Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, Mr Ali Jan Khan, was paying special attention to the welfare of health workers.

Highlighting the importance attached by the health department to polio workers, the EOC coordinator reiterated that it took utmost care of health workers injured or killed in the line of duty. “Secretary health recently visited an injured polio worker, Ms Shahnaz Abdul Hameed, and announced compensation, to bear expenses of her treatment”, the EOC coordinator underlined.

Mr Afzaal reassured that health department under the new leadership was committed to the cause of polio eradication which was only possible due to the resilience of hard working and resilient polio workers. He assured the female polio workers that a number of initiatives were under consideration which were solely dedicated to improving their work environment. “The health department will ensure that polio workers especially female workers are treated with respect and dignity”, he said.