LAHORE:Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid has thanked the Mission of the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI) for its cooperation in immunization program in the country.
In a meeting with GAVI Country Manager Alexa Reynolds and members of the international developments partners here on Friday, she said the Health department would improve immunization coverage with the support of GAVI as it had always provided support in this regard. The minister said the support of GAVI was extremely important in improving healthcare services in Punjab.
“The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) deserves appreciation for taking the immunization coverage to over 89 per cent in the province,“ the minister said. She stated that Punjab was currently leading the coverage in Pakistan.
On the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary Iram Bukhari said the ownership from administrative departments helped improve immunization coverage and the administrative teams were committed to control vaccine preventable diseases.
GAVI representative Alexa Reynolds said the GAVI would continue to support the Punjab especially EPI Program and efforts for the EPI Program were praiseworthy.
The main agenda of the meeting was reviewing the performance of the EPI and way forward for improving immunization coverage in Punjab.
Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Sarah Aslam, Additional Secretary P&SH Department Dr. Asim Altaf, Director General Health Service Punjab Dr. Haroon Jehangir, Director EPI Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed and members of partner organizations were present in the meeting. The representatives of World Health Organization and Unicef also attended the meeting.