Islamabad, 13 January, 2015: The World Health Organization would like to firmly dispel the notion that its office in Islamabad is involved in the direct recruitment of polio workers in any capacity.  

WHO in Pakistan works in close collaboration with the Government of Pakistan to assist on polio eradication in the country. The assistance is provided in the technical domains ranging from strategy formulation at the national and provincial levels down to ground level of micro-planning and training at the union council level.  Union council polio workers are being supported by WHO since 2012 and constitute its most peripheral contractors, all with a technical support role to government polio workers.  

In view of the current critical situation of polio eradication in the country, the Government of Pakistan, in consultation with its international partners (WHO and UNICEF), has developed a comprehensive plan for the low transmission (December 2014 – May 2015) season, aiming at stopping polio by the end of 2015. One of the components of this plan is to make a staff surge with the assistance of polio partners, mainly at the district and UC levels to improve the technical assistance and facilitate programme implementation.  

The surge of WHO cannot be viewed as a substitute to government perogatives in the fight against polio. This would be contrary and unprecedented in the almost half a century of history of WHO's operations in Pakistan. 

The recruitment of the UC polio workers, currently in progress across the country, has received full consent from the Government of Pakistan and is part of the all-engaged agreed low transmission season plan. 

WHO takes this opportunity to remind the media of the importance of relying on appropriate and valid sources when it comes to elaborating on sensitive public health subjects of national concern.  

For more information contact:

Maryam Yunus
Communication Officer
WHO Pakistan

03008441744