EOC COMMUNICATION UPDATE Issue no.169
IVv
a
EOC Communication Update
v
WWW.ENDPOLIO.COM.PK ISSUE NO. 169- JULY 8TH , 2018
Caretaker Chief Minister Sindh Lauds Polio Eradication Effort in Sindh Expressing happiness that not a single polio case has been reported from Sindh so far this year, Caretaker Chief Minister Fazalur Rehman has lauded the efforts of polio eradication officers, frontline workers and security personnel whose dedication has been instrumental in curtailing the spread of poliovirus in Karachi. The interim Chief Minister chaired a meeting of the provincial taskforce on polio eradication at the CM House on 2nd July, Monday wherein Fayyaz Jatoi, the coordinator of the Sindh Emergency Operation Centre, briefed him on the progress made in polio eradication efforts in the province and the country.
Jatoi informed the interim CM that in 2014, 306 polio cases were reported in the country, 30 of which were from Sindh, including 23 from Karachi alone. He said that with consistent efforts and government ownership of the polio eradication programme, the number of reported cases in Pakistan was significantly brought down to just eight in 2017; of which only two cases were reported from Karachi.
Jatoi added only three polio cases have been reported from the country this year, and none of them were from Sindh. The the creation of the EOCs resulted in better management of the eradication programme while the strategy of community-based vaccination yielded good results as well.
However, the EOC coordinator stressed on the importance of continuing the hard work because the polio virus continues to be detected in environmental samples in several areas.
Regarding the concerning issue of refusals, the CM was told that most of them happen because of misconceptions and the EOC is engaging with the communities to convince and undo these refusal cases.
Jatoi said that following the reported incident of measles vaccination in Nawabshah there was a big spike in refusals but the intensive communication effort was successful in addressing the rumors and now the situation is slowly going back to normal. He requested the support of the CM through advocacy with school managements to provide access to vaccination teams during polio campaigns so that no child would be missed, especially in district West of Karachi EOC COMMUNICATION UPDATE | ISSUE NO. 169 2
where the number of schools’ cooperation has not been satisfactory. To this end, the CM directed the education department to issue a notification to urge such school to welcome polio teams when they visit.
It was pointed out during the meeting that there were some challenges to the programme such as vacant posts of district health officers (DHOs) and frequent migration patterns of populations to and from high-risk areas. The provincial task force also decided to support the EOC in appointing vaccinators in interior Sindh as well as engagement of NGOs working on water, sanitation and hygiene in critical areas such as Gadap Town in Karachi.
Sindh EOC Technical Coordinator Shahnaz Wazir Ali told the gathering that the polio programme in Pakistan started in 1994 and was inaugurated by late prime minister Benazir Bhutto who vaccinated her own children to mark the occasion.
She said that with time the structures in the health care system vis-a-vis polio have strengthened and we are now on the last mile of polio eradication. She warned though that as long as the virus keeps showing up in the environment, we cannot be complacent and must double our efforts.
Minister for Health Dr Sadia Rizvi said she was very impressed with the way the polio programme is structured and the relentless efforts of all those involved that has brought down the case count in the province.
The meeting was attended by the health minister, chief secretary, the secretaries for health, finance, home, education and literacy departments, the Sindh EOC technical coordinator, EOC Focal Person Dr Ahmad Ali Shaikh, Karachi Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar, Karachi Commissioner Mr Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Farooqi, the team leads from UNICEF and WHO, while the commissioners from interior Sindh districts participated through video link.
Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Engages Media in Support of Polio Eradication
Rawalpindi – in a series of media orientation workshops organized by the Emergency Operations Centre of Punjab in Rawalpindi on 6 and 7th July, health beat Journalists and editors pledged to beef up support to Pakistan’s final battle against polio.
Over 35 journalists from 29 leading media organizations engaged in the full-day twin workshops to discuss and come up with a roadmap to countering rumors and misinformation through investigative and objective journalism.
During various sessions conducted by UNICEF, WHO and programme specialists, the journalists were briefed on the global progress towards a polio-free world as well as Pakistan’s strategies to reach out to every missed child with the vaccine and eliminate the remaining hurdles on the way to complete eradication.
The two workshops dedicated open discussion sessions for senior health beat from Rawalpindi and districts of Punjab around the challenges faced by journalist in reporting polio eradication and ways to counter irresponsible fake news.
“Social media has become a force multiplier for the vested interests who are using this section of media to spread rumors. The mainstream traditional media has a special role to play in countering rumors and convey the facts and accurate information to communities to help them make the right decisions in favour of their children’s welfare”, said Mr Agha Akbar, senior columnist and editor of Pakistan Today English-language daily newspaper.
In the two workshops, the journalists came up with several suggestions to improve reporting on polio in order to provide actionable information to the polio programme as well as dispelling misconceptions about vaccine. EOC COMMUNICATION UPDATE | ISSUE NO. 169 3
The journalist found interest in obtaining up-to-date and accurate information and statistics about the situation of polio eradication through the PEI website and social media channels, WhatsApp groups as well as effective access to spokespersons and programme experts. Additionally, they suggested scaling up engement of media around polio eradication issues and offered replicating the orientation and training for journalists at district and union council level journalists through senior journalists.
“Media owners should be on board to support reporters effort to raise awareness about the impact of polio on children and community through understanding of the size of the polio emergency and dedicating more media space for this critical programme”, said Sajjad Kazmi from Daily Dunya.
The 35 participating journalists and media persons represented PTV News, Dawn, Capital TV, The News, Aaj TV, Daily Times, Jang, Samaa, The Nation, Waqt , ARY, Awaz, Express News, HD 92 TV, Dunya TV, Khabrain and Neo News, Daily Business Times, Daily Ausaf, Weekly Khushhali Pindigheb, Daily Jinnah, Daily Voice of Pakistan, Radio Pakistan, Daily Nawa e Waqt and Daily Al-Akhbar.
Government School Teachers sessions for Yakatoot Belt
In view of the continuous poliovirus detection in the environmental samples from Shaheen Muslim Town (SMT) over the last several months, the intensive vaccination effort to build children defenses against the virus has been bolstered by a special series of communication and advocacy activities, including an orientation session for public school teachers in Yakatoot 1, 2 and 3 UCs which are part of the 17 drainage UCs in Peshawar.
Four different sessions with teachers were conducted in CD Zargarabad for male teachers before July 2018 campaign. Teachers are respected members of their community; therefore, their influence is key to build community trust. The purpose of the awareness sessions is increase the voice base for sanitizing the community on PEI and EPI and to create an enabling environment for the FLWs to vaccinate/reach every child.
Yakatoot UCs are security compromised with different trends of refusals, such as religious misconceptions, campaign fatigue and even direct refusals does, particularly in aftermath of SMT incident that has resulted in a spike of refusals in these UCs.
The event was attended by more than 30 government school teachers, elected representatives (Nazims and Counsellors) of the UC, Imam Masjid (religious leaders) and other influential community leaders. The participants were briefed on polio history, current situation and the challenges which the programme faces. All the myths and misconceptions were discussed in details too.
In response to an appeal for their support to track missed children and cover refusals in upcoming campaigns, all participants who had actively participated in the discussions assured of their fullest cooperation and support.
EOC COMMUNICATION UPDATE | ISSUE NO. 169 4
Polio case update
PROVINCE 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
PUNJAB 9 2 7 5 2 0 1 0
SINDH 33 4 10 30 12 8 2 0
KPK 23 27 11 68 17 8 1 0
FATA 59 20 65 179 16 2 0 0
BALOCHISTAN 73 4 0 25 7 2 3 3*
GILGIT-BALTISTAN 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 198 58 93 306 54 20 8 3
* Last reported case from Dukki, Balochistan province on May 18, 2018 (Onset Date).
************************