ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Although polio eradication has become a provincial subject following the 18th Amendment, the Ministry of National Health Services (MNHS) is now insisting that it should be made the executing agency for the initiative.

In its revised terms of references (TORs) sent to the Prime Minister`s Focal Person on Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq, the ministry has added an additional point stating that it would act as the executing agency for polio eradication.

As a result, the focal person`s rolein polio eradication efforts would become minimal.

An officer at the Prime Minister`s Office, on condition of anonymity, said MNHS had sent the proposed TORs dated December 4, 2013 which have been signed by Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi to the PM Office.

`Seven points of the proposed TORs are the same as those handed over to Shahnaz Wazir Ali, the former Focal Person on Polio Eradication, in 2011. However, the ministry has added another point to ensure its input in the polio campaign,` he said.

`The ministry has stated that towork in close coordination, it will act as an executing agency for polio eradication to ensure timely and efficient delivery of polio related issues,` the official said.

This point was not part of the TORs sent to the former focal person, he added.

The official said as per the TORs, the ministry would be responsible for the procurement and supply of polio vaccine to all provinces for the implementation of the polio campaign.

An officer of MNHS requesting anonymity said that after the 18th Amendment, polio had become a provincial subject and the PM`s FocalPerson should be directly coordinating with the provinces.

`The ministry is only trying to ensure its input in the polio campaigns and have added the point for this reason,` he said.

The focal person on polio, Member National Assembly Ayesha Raza Farooq, told Dawn that the proposed TORs had so far not been submitted to her.

`I will look into it once the documents arrive and will take an appropriate decision accordingly. My first priority is to eradicate polio from the country and for that, I am ready to cooperate with the federal as well as provincial ministries,` she said.