PESHAWAR: The government has been taking all measures to eradicate poliovirus from the country by 2016, said State Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Flanked by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shahram Tarakai, she lauded the efforts of the provincial government for carrying out the anti-polio campaigns and particularly appreciated the `Sehat Ka Insaf` and `Sehat Ka Ittehad` programmes of the KP government and described them as successful.She said that the number of polio cases had decreased due to the SKI and assured all-out support of the federal government to the provincial government to root out the crippling disease.

She said that the centre would extend all financial and technical support to the provinces to make the vaccination drive effective.

The state minister said that the federal government in consultation with the provinces was working to devise a comprehensive `National Health Vision` programme to have a roadmap for formulating effective strategies to eradicate polio and all other fatal diseases.

Mr Tarakai termed the problem of poliovirus a national issue and said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government faced many hardships, but it accorded priority to polio eradication. He said that SKI programme had been undertaken to eliminate polio.

He claimed that it was because of the KP government`s efforts that 46per cent reduction had been recorded in polio cases.

`It is not possible for the provincial or federal government to overcome the issue alone rather all the relevant bodies, individuals and public should make coordinated efforts and shoulder the governments` efforts to eradicate the menace of polio from the country,` he said.

He pointed out that majority of the polio cases had been detected in the provincial capital which was due to the huge influx of refugees from Afghanistan and the adjacent tribal areas. He urged the federal government to play its due role in this regard.

Earlier, a meeting on polio eradication was held at the Civil Secretariat, which was attended by focal person of Prime Minister`s Programme for the Eradication of Polio Ayesha Farooq, chief secretary Amjad Ali Khan, representatives of the Pakistan Army and police.It discussed the matters related to the implementation of National Emergency Action Plan 2015-16 and preparation for the upcoming polio campaigns in the province, security of polio workers, payment of stipends to workers, ensuring maximum coverage in the upcoming pollo drives and provision of fundsforthe purpose.

The deputy commissioners of all the districts were asked to review plans of anti-polio campaign in their respective district and ensure maximum coverage with special focus on chronic refusal cases.

It also called for engaging the newly-elected councillors in the anti-polio campaigns to achieve the desired results.

The chief secretary ordered formation of a committee under the health secretary to ensure timely payment to the polio workers and the home department to chalk out a plan for ensuring foolproof security to the vaccinators.