Islamabad, June 01: Parliamentarians from all major political parties represented in the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan met in Islamabad and agreed to initiate a multi-party Caucus of Parliamentarians to raise awareness about the significance of immunization and the fatal consequences of not immunizing children. A meeting of a select group of Senators and MNAs was hosted by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency � PILDAT in Islamabad to consider the proposal of forming such a caucus in view of the persistent discovery of Polio cases in Pakistan and lingering misperceptions about the Immunization programmes launched by the Government of Pakistan with the help of international donors. Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto, MNA (NA-314, Sindh-VII, PPPP), Parliamentary Secretary of Health who also chairs the National Asembly Standing Committee on Health�s Sub-Committee on Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) briefed parliamentarians about the EPI and informed that each national campaign for Polio eradication costs Rs. 1 billion and no society could afford to allow such expensive campaigns to become ineffective. She emphasized that all parliamentarians, irrespective of their political affiliation, should come forward and help Pakistan achieve universal immunization in Pakistan by 2015 as one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Earlier a presentation highlighted the vulnerability of 13 districts and tribal agencies to polio virus and other diseases and indicated that 2008 had seen one of the highest incidences of 120 Polio Cases in Pakistan. Although the number of cases dropped to 93 in 2009 in 32 districts and tribal agencies, the vulnerability continues due to migration of population and unstable governance on account of insurgency in some districts and tribal agencies. The presentation also highlighted that misperceptions about immunization persist in a certain section of the society due to lack of education and awareness and this leads to their non-cooperative attitude towards immunization of their children.

Parliamentarians agrred to convene a larger Briefing meeting of parliamentarians during the coming Budget Session and appointed Mehreen Bhutto as the Convenor of the Caucus till then. Honourable Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, MNA; Deputy Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistanhas consented to be the Patron of the Parliamentary Caucus to promote immunization in Pakistan. An organizing committee and office bearers of the caucus will be appointed in the next meeting. Parliamentarians present at the meeting filled out their membership forms for the Caucus.

Parliamentarians who participated and became members of the emerging Caucus included Senator Dr. Saeeda Iqbal, (ICT, PPPP); Senator Begum Najma Hameed, (Punjab, PML-N); Senator Fauzia Fakhar uz Zaman, (Khyber Pakhtoonkhuah, PML); Dr. Donya Aziz, MNA (NA-304, Punjab-XXXII, PML); Begum Nuzhat Sadiq, MNA (NA-277, Punjab-V, PML-N); Ms. Tahira Aurangzeb, MNA (NA-276, Punjab-IV, PML-N); Mr. Shaukat ullah, MNA (NA-43, Bajour Agency-FATA, Independent), Dr. Lal Chand, MNA (NA-335, Non-Muslim-III, PPPP), Dr. Abdul Wahid Soomro, MNA (NA-237, Thatta-I, Sindh, PPPP), Ms. Fauzia Ejaz Khan, MNA (NA-317, Sindh, MQM), Dr, Nahid Shahid Ali, MNA (NA-315, Sindh, MQM), Malik Bilal Rehman, MNA (NA 36, Tribal Area I).

Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director-PILDAT, while giving the background of initiating a Parliamentary Caucus, said that the elected representatives can play a very effective role in the specific context of promoting Expanded Programme on immunization-EPI. The purpose of EPI is to initiate a collective effort to reduce the mortality results from the seven EPI target diseases by immunizing children of the age 0-11 months and women of child bearing age. The elected representatives of the people in the Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures can play a very important role in enhancing the understanding and participation of their communities in the EPI initiatives. A committed leadership of Parliamentarians can add to the steps towards achieving MDGs as they too can strongly advocate on the issue at the highest level, allocate adequate resources for child health, legislate to ensure universal access to essential care and also oversee the implementation of relevant policies.

A bi-lingual briefing paper, highlighting the importance and issues of immunization, was introduced by PILDAT on the occasion. The paper is authored by Dr. Haris Ahmed, a senior Public Health expert, who also answered various queries of the Parliamentarians during the session. The briefing paper on immunization in Pakistan can be downloaded here.