By Staycey Yalo – EMTV News, Port Moresby
A special National Executive Council meeting on Tuesday this week, has declared a public health emergency on the outbreak of Polio.
The declaration of the public health emergency now enables Health Minister, Sir Puka Temu, to use his powers to issue a gazettal notice on the isolation of the three infected areas – Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands provinces.
Cabinet also approved K7 million in funding toward emergency response in these areas, in addition to the World Health Organisation funding of K1.6 million.
This emergency response requires global support, and relevant authorities like the Foreign Affairs and Immigration Ministry to work with the Ministry for Health to ensure visiting technical experts coming into the country to provide help, will not be faced with problems like visa processing delays.
A response to the outbreak has already begun in the three provinces, with vaccination of 845 children so far.
