PESHAWAR, Feb 18 (APP):Participants at a provincial coordination meeting of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on integrating `Immunization Awareness’ reaffirmed their commitment for strengthening collaboration to ensure equitable access to routine immunization services and to support Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department in reaching every child with life-saving vaccines.
The meeting was organized by KHAGARAH Development Organization (KDO) in collaboration with the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) KP under Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s CSO Fund mechanism aimed to strengthen province-wide coordination to support routine immunization efforts, particularly in hard-to-reach and high-risk areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Director EPI KP, Dr. Mehtab Khan chaired the session that was attended by officials of EPI, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi liaison team, district health offices, and a wide range of national and international civil society organizations, reflecting a strong multi-stakeholder provincial platform for immunization coordination.
Those who attended the meeting included Technical Officer WHO, Dr. Kashif Muqarab, Liaison Officer GAVI, Dr. Tariq Ahmad, Deputy Director Communication EPI, Ayaz Ahmad, DHO Lower Kohistan, Dr. Pirzada, CSO Focal Person EPI, Irfan Ahmad, Executive Director KDO, Farah Shahid, Director Program KDO, Abdul Samad Lodhi, Programme Manager Blue Veins, Qamar Naseem, Executive Director EHSAR Foundation, Kazimullah Khan (Provincial Lead NHN Chapter KP), Abdul Hameed of ICMPD and Ms. Zainab.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mehtab Khan underscored provincial government’s leadership and commitment to strengthening routine immunization through coordinated engagement with civil society partners.
Dr. Mehtab said Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) is intensifying efforts to raise vaccination coverage and achieve the target of exceeding 90 percent coverage by 2027, as outlined in the Provincial Immunization Strategy.
Our focus is to cover hard areas during immunization campaigns and reducing the number of zero dose children.
He urged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to further strengthen the immunization coverage with a particular focus on the upcoming Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) aims to immunize adolescent girls to protect them from cervical cancer.
Female staff members of KDO shared their experience and challenges while working on immunization at remote and mountainous Kohistan district of KP.
They stressed on recruitment of Lady Health Workers (LHWs) for extending outreach and coverage of female and children in the area.
Kamran Qureshi of Unicef said CSOs staff and EPI teams should focus on community awareness, engagement and accountability for increasing vaccination coverage.
Open discussion focused on critical role of CSOs in supporting provincial immunization priorities through community mobilization, demand generation, and rumor management.
Emphasis was placed on aligning community-level outreach initiatives with provincial strategies, ensuring consistency of key messages and strengthening coordination with district and union council-level health teams to improve timely uptake and completion of routine immunization.
Participants shared field experiences, highlighting operational challenges and discussed practical approaches to improve immunization coverage, particularly among zero-dose and under-immunized children.
The session underscored importance of structured collaboration between government institutions and civil society partners to enhance public confidence in vaccination services and strengthen routine immunization systems across the province.