



The next 72 hours are crucial for Pakistan as the country may face travel restrictions from the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulatory Emergency Committee for its failure to curb the spread of poliovirus. Fifty-six polio cases have been reported so far this year.





“The IHR Emergency Committee has been constituted by the WHO to review the status of polio-affected countries in order to give recommendations to Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO’s Director-General, regarding the possibility of imposing restrictions on Pakistan,” an official working at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.The committee conducted teleconference meetings from Geneva with the representatives of governments from polio-affected countries over two days. In Pakistan, the PM’s focal person on polio eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, and senior public health expert Dr Asad Hafeez spoke with the committee. The ministry official told The Express Tribune that “there is a serious threat that the members of the committee will recommend to Dr Chan that travel restrictions be imposed on Pakistan”. The committee’s decisions are legally binding.According to Sona Bari, global spokesperson at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, the ongoing meeting between Pakistan’s representatives and the committee was a ‘closed-door meeting’. She said members of the emergency committee were independent experts in public health from various countries across the globe. “The WHO is not in a position either to influence or predict the outcome of the emergency committee,” she added. Bari said the committee commenced work on its report to Dr Chan on Monday and will continue to work for the next few days.Meanwhile, an official from the Foreign Office in Pakistan, who wished not to be named, told The Express Tribune that Pakistan is making all-out efforts to clear the country’s position to the international community on the spread of the virus. Security issues, terrorism and geo-political issues have been cited as reasons for the continued struggle against the virus, the official said. “The international community should understand the major challenges Pakistan is facing,” said the official.Minister of State for the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar told The Express Tribune that any travel restrictions would “discourage all stakeholders involved in eradicating polio from the country” and “the international community should understand the current situation of Pakistan and consider it before taking any major step”.Published in The Express Tribune, April 30, 2014.