Peshawar, June 21: Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly belonging to different major political parties met in Peshawar with Speaker Mr. Kiramatullah Khan in the chair and agreed to initiate a multi-party Caucus of MPAs to raise AWARENESS about the significance of immunization and the fatal consequences of not immunizing children. Mr. Kiramat Ullah Khan, Speaker, Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtumkhwa declared his full support and cooperation to the initiative and urged MPAs to join the caucus and tirelessly work to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a polio-free province. He agreed to become the Patron of the Caucus to actively work with other MPAs to promote immunization in the province. MPAs present at the meeting filled out their membership forms for the Caucus and agreed to start a membership drive within the Assembly.

Earlier, PILDAT Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob highlighted in his presentation the precarious position of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA where 57 % of the total cases of Polio in Pakistan were detected in 2009 and this percentage has increased to 63 % during the first 3 months of 2010. He concluded that elected representatives will need to take a more pro-active approach in combating the menace of Polio and other preventable diseases through immunization as the routine measures were not enough to address the extra-ordinary situation created partly by insurgency and partly by elements spreading rumours against the immunization.

MPAs agreed to convene a larger meeting of MPAs during next session of the Provincial Assembly while Mr. Saleem Khan MPA and Minister for Population welfare, Ms. Shazia Tehmas MPA and Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Population welfare were asked to act as the Convener and coordinator of the caucus respectively. An organizing committee will be formed after the initial membership drive is completed.

Earlier Members of the Senate and National Assembly had met to form a similar caucus at the federal level with Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, Deputy Speaker as the Patron and Dr. Mehreen Bhutto, Parliamentary Secretary on Health as the Convenor of the Caucus. Punjab and Sindh Assembly Members also created their caucuses with Speaker Mr. Nisar Khuro as the Patron for the Sindh Chapter and Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly as the Patron of the Punjab Chapter. Dr. Asad Ashraf, Chairman of the Chief Minister�s Task Force on Health was named convenor of the Punjab Caucus. Mr. Anwar Ahmad Mahar (PPPP) and Mr. Moin Aamir Pirzada (MQM) were asked to act as the co-chairs of the Caucus in Sindh Assembly. Caucuses in the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan and Legislative Assemblies of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are also in the process of formation.

MPAs who participated and became members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caucus included:

Mr. Atiq-ur-Rehman MPA, ( PF-42, PPPP), Ms. Shugufta Malik MPA, (Reserved Seat for women, Peshawar, ANP), Ms. Nargis Samin MPA, (Reserved seat for Women, PPP-s), Ms. Zarqa Tanveer, MPA ( Women reserved Seat, JUI � F), Ms. Shazia Tehmas Khan, MPA ( Women Reserved Seat, PPPP), Mr. Saleem Khan, MPA (PF 89, PPP), Mr. Ghulam Muhammad, MPA ( PF 90 PML Q), Prince Javed ( Minorities Reserved Seat, PPPP), Ms. Noor Sahar, MPA ( Reserved Seat, PPP), Ms. Tabassum Younis Katozai, MPA ( Reserved seat for women, ANP), Atif Ur Rehman Khalil, MPA ( PF5, ANP), Mr. Taj Mohammad Khan Trand, MPA ( PF 59, Independent), Malik Badshah Saleh, MPA (PF 92, PPPP), Shah Hussain Khan Allai, MPA (PF 60, JUI F), Mr. Mukhtar Ali, MPA (PF 33, ANP), Mr. Aurangzeb, MPA ( PF 1, ANP).