In a signing ceremony held at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), Islamabad, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the NEOC for the Polio Eradication Initiative, a national coordination body of the Federal Government of Pakistan. The partnership aims to achieve a shared objective and common goal of attaining a healthy and safe future for Pakistan through immunization in general, with a specific focus on creating an enabling environment for polio eradication.
The Secretary-General APTMA, Mr. Shahid Sattar, and National Coordinator, NEOC, Dr. Shahzad Asif Baig, signed the LOI in the presence of the Chief of Polio Programme, UNICEF Pakistan as the witness to the ceremony.
APTMA with the assistance of NEOC and UNICEF will participate in a countrywide awareness drive for the eradication of Polio. Pakistan is one of the two remaining countries in the world where poliomyelitis (polio) is still categorized as an endemic viral infection, the other one being Afghanistan. As of September 2022, there have been 17 documented cases, which is a pressing concern for the Government of Pakistan and other International Health Monitory bodies including UNICEF.
APTMA partners with National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication Initiative, a national coordination body of the @GovtofPakistan . To create an enabling environment to achieve a shared objective of attaining a healthy future by eradicating polio from Pakistan.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/cfxEpjS1rU— All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (@APTMAofficial) October 11, 2022
APTMA and NEOC will collaborate to provide an enabling environment to sensitize the population and implement various health checks and go beyond the territorial constraints, where cultural and ethnic beliefs play a roadblock to making Pakistan Polio free country like other progressive countries in the region.
Read more: Major upset for Pakistan as it reports first polio case in 15 months
Horrendous floods have played havoc with the Pakistani population which has placed us in a similar situation to COVID to survive the challenges ahead of us in face of infrastructural and human damage we will have to pull through. These floods pose an equally serious threat to the affectees with the widespread water-borne diseases and other medical conditions, creating an alarming situation for the spread of Polio. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised serious concerns about the well-being of these affected populations and has put out a serious warning about the health/serious disease situation in the flood-ravaged areas.
APTMA reiterates its firm commitment and willingness to partner with Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) bodies to project Pakistan’s stance to resolve these challenges for improvement in social and health sectors. APTMA as an official partner will have display cooperation with NEOC and UNICEF on media campaigns (print, digital & electronic) for maximum endorsement.
The inaugural ceremony of the Polio Eradication Drive will be held at Kohinoor Mills Ltd, Lahore, one of the APTMA members on 24th October 2022 to officially commence the awareness campaign.
Read more: APTMA dispatches 20,000 ration packs to flood victims