ISLAMABAD: Due to the limited stock of polio vaccine, the Pakistani federal Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) refused to provide the government more vaccines for travellers.
An official working with EPI reveals that the organisation barely has enough vaccines for routine immunisation and it cannot afford to supply in excess for any other purpose at the federal level. Even the provinces have been asked to arrange these on their own.
The official said that due to the delay in the release of funds from the government, the federal EPI is struggling to procure vaccines.
“We have already conveyed this to the concerned officials of Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) and asked it to procure the vaccine on its own.”
According to another official, who works closely with the polio programme, said, “Though the federal government has made it compulsory for all people travelling abroad to produce a valid polio vaccination certificate from June 1...”
Internews
