ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel on Sunday distributed cheques worth Rs 250 million among frontline Polioworkers whose homes were either washed away in the floods or partially damaged.
Addressing the occasion, the minister said that the government is grateful for the services of polio workers, who despite suffering losses in the catastrophic floods continued to assist with flood relief activities.
“I salute your courage and passion. Despite suffering losses, you came to the aid of your fellow citizens and supported the government in flood relief operations,” he said.
The Pakistan Polio Programme conducted a comprehensive assessment of the damages
that polio workers suffered this summer when unprecedented rains and flooding affected 33 million people and left a third of the country under water.
“I understand your pain and had therefore requested the authorities of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) that our polio workers should be compensated as much as possible because we can’t leave our people alone at this testing time,” the minister said.
“Our first priority is always polio workers. Their services to Pakistan are immeasurable,” said National Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Dr. Shahzad Baig.
“It was a huge task to identify the workers affected by the floods, complete their documentation and offer these cheques.” There are over 350,000 frontline staff and we conducted an extensive exercise in all provinces to assess the impact of the floods on our
teams, Dr. Baig added.
Nearly 12,500 polio health workers were affected by the floods, according to the polio programme’s assessment, with a majority of them in Sindh and Balochistan.
The government will be distributing cheques worth nearly Rs 250 million to polio health workers around the country.
