Pakistan to be polio free country soon: President

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain
Thursday said Pakistan would soon get rid of polio owing
to successful continuation of polio eradication drive.
He said this while talking to Chairman Rotary International
Kalyan M Banerjee who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He appreciated the efforts of the government
for eradication of polio virus which was evident from the fact
that only three cases of polio had been reported this year.
The senior member of the foundation Aziz Memon, Rotary
District Governors Faiza Qamar and Ovais Kohari, Head of
Pakistan’s Emergency Operations Cell for Polio Eradication Dr
Rana Safdar and senior officials were also present on the
occasion.
The president noted that the major reason behind the
spread of polio was militancy which had now been largely
overcome and as a result it was expected that polio would be
completely eliminated from the country.
He emphasized that the government was making
all out efforts to root out the polio virus from the country
and these endeavors were producing positive results.
He said the major reasons behind the outbreak of
such diseases were illiteracy and lack of awareness of the
basic principles of hygiene.
He said the government was working on a
comprehensive strategy under which the primary education would
be completely entrusted to women which would help in creating
awareness about primary health, increasing the literacy rate
among women and eradicating fatal diseases from the society.
Chairman Rotary International Kalyan M Banerjee
apprised the president about his effort to wipe out polio and
said his foundation would continue to cooperate with the
government of Pakistan in this regard.
He commended the services of Federal Minister Saira
Afzal Tarar and Prime Minister’s Coordinator Sara Raza Farooq
for launching a successful campaign against polio.