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- Dr. Baig said he resigned for personal reasons.
- He will now be replaced by a government official.
- So far, three children in Pakistan have been infected with the polio virus.
Dr Shahzad Bagh, national coordinator of Pakistan’s polio eradication programme, said he was resigning for “personal reasons”.
Dr. Baig included in list of world’s 100 health leaders time Magazine, he himself Geographic News.
Dr Baig confirmed the development days after Islamabad decided to hire a government official to head the polio programme.
The former national coordinator resigned as he was heavily criticised for the spread of polio in the country, where at least 153 environmental samples from 39 districts were confirmed to contain the polio virus.
So far, three children have been infected with the polio virus in Pakistan.
Earlier today, government officials said news The Pakistani government, concerned about the resurgence of the polio virus across the country over the past two years, has decided to have one official lead the National Polio Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to replace the current national coordinator of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Dr Shahzad Baig, with a government official of BPS 21 or above to lead the operational aspects of the polio eradication drive as the polio virus has re-emerged in recent years,” an official from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSR&C) told the publication.
Meanwhile, the official insisted that Dr. Baig could continue to serve as a technical adviser on the polio program but administrative decisions would now be taken by government-appointed officials.
According to the official, wild poliovirus is spreading rapidly in Pakistan. In 2023, 126 environmental samples from 28 districts of Pakistan tested positive for poliovirus.
The official mentioned that a notification for appointment of a new national coordinator is expected soon and claimed that even the partner organisations that had earlier supported Dr Baig have agreed to a government official replacing him.
“In reality, Dr Shahzad Bagh was not an employee of the Pakistan government, which led to coordination problems and derailed the polio project. Provincial coordinators and other senior government officials had issues with him and some even sent letters against him to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” the official further claimed.
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