Polio virus: BA voices fear Pakistanis might face travelling ban

Daily Times

The Balochistan Assembly Saturday expressed fear that if the crippling poliovirus is not eliminated from the country, Pakistanis could face a ban on travelling abroad. The legislators also stressed expediting rescue and relief activities in the earthquake-affected areas. The session of the Balochistan Assembly began on Saturday after a day’s break, with Speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali in the chair. Due to non-furnishing of replies to the questions asked by some members of the House the question-hour was deferred. Having no other agenda, the members of treasury and opposition benches spoke on different issues on points of order, however, eradication of polio and relief activities in the earthquake-hit areas dominated the session. Leader of the National Party (NP) Rehmat Baloch said that as September 30 was being observed as the World Anti-Polio Day to create awareness about the disease, therefore, all members of the House must monitor anti-polio campaigns in their respective areas. He said some corrupt people had made polio campaign as a source of their income. He said that in Panjgur the polio teams did not administer polio drop to the children. “The local officers, by showing dummy teams, receive TA, DA allowances,” he added. Meanwhile, JUI-F leader Gul Muhammad Dumar said that he had recently visited his constituency where he was astonished to see that schools were closed and the teachers were absent despite being paid regularly. He said law and order, health and education needed special focus of the government otherwise the people would not be satisfied. Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Nasrullah Zehray welcomed observance of September 30 as the international polio day and said it was a good step. Zehray noted that no polio case had surfaced in Pishin, Qila Abdullah and Quetta since March 14. He said that world had decided to eradicate polio until 2015 and if we fail to eradicate the disease from the country, Pakistanis could face travelling bans. He also said there were only a few countries, including Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, which still had poliovirus. “We should actively participate in the anti-polio campaigns to get rid of this crippling virus,” he added. PkMAP leader Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen said that the Civil Hospital was right in front of his house but during the last three months, the polio teams have not visited his house to administer polio vaccine to children. He said polio teams were not working actively which was also one of the reasons polio cases keep surfacing. Speaking on his turn, MPA Mujeebur Rehman Muhammad Hassani said in order to eradicate polio, monitoring committees had been constituted at the district level, and they should be monitored through MPAs and deputy commissioners. Speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali regretted that funds were coming from foreign countries for the eradication of polio but were not channelised properly. Other MPAs, including Obaidullah Babath, Shahida Rauf, Dr Hamid Achakzai, also spoke about the eradication of polio and gave their recommendations and expressed their resolve to cope with the deadly virus.