By Moin Ullah Shah
KARACHI: Commissioner Karachi Syed Hassan Naqvi met with the leadership and members of the Private Hospitals and Clinics Association, along with representatives of various private hospitals, to enlist their support in Pakistan’s polio eradication campaign.
During the meeting, it was agreed that private hospitals would record data of children vaccinated at their facilities and share it with the administration. This data will help identify missed children and monitor vaccination coverage, addressing gaps that currently hamper analysis of the campaign’s progress.
Dr Junaid Ali Shah, President of the Private Hospitals and Clinics Association, assured full cooperation and pledged that the association and its members would support all anti‑polio efforts.
Commissioner Naqvi highlighted that many parents prefer vaccinating children at private facilities, considering it safer, and stressed that such vaccinations must be included in official data to accurately assess campaign outcomes.
Doctors were advised to ask incoming patients whether a polio team had visited their home and whether the children had received polio drops, addressing any parental concerns.
Officials also briefed participants on maintaining the cold chain for Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), which must be stored and transported at +2 °C to +8 °C, with dedicated teams monitoring temperature continuously.
The Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator, Shahzad Gul Memon, and Karachi’s Anti‑Polio Coordinator, Saud Yaqoob, provided updates on campaign procedures and vaccination protocols.
