KARACHI - As many as 16 cases of polio have come to the fore in the year 2012 and two of them in the province of Sindh, said Sindh Minister for Health Dr Sagheer Ahmed while presiding over a meeting to review the polio-eradication campaign on Saturday.
The minister said that of the two cases in Sindh, one was from Mirpurkhas and the other from Hyderabad.
He pointed out that in 1994, when the campaign was initiated the number of polio cases in Pakistan was nearly 3,000.
Sagheer said that in the year 2011, this number was 38 and 11 of them were from Sindh. He exhorted all district health officers to put in concerted efforts to secure the desired results from the anti-polio campaign.
The minister also warned that no dereliction would be tolerated, adding that if target in a district was not met, then departmental action would be initiated against the DHO concerned.
He also issued necessary directives regarding the anti-polio campaign from June
4 to 6.
Sagheer stressed that an effective strategy be adopted regarding the nine districts in Sindh that were considered as the high risk areas.
The meeting was also attended by Sindh Health Secretary Aftab Khatri, Special Secretary Health Dr Suresh Kumar, Health Director General Ferozuddin Memon and Dr Salah Tumsah from the World Health Organisation.