Children of 604 union councils to be inoculated

Immunisation drive to be initiated in 67 Afghan refugee camps as well

PESHAWAR: Children under the age of five will be inoculated against poliovirus in 604 union councils and 67 Afghan refugee camps in 13 high-risk districts of the province.

This was said by Emergency Operation Center (EOC) Coordinator Akbar Khan.

Akbar expressed these views while addressing a meeting on Sunday. He said 3,644,000 children below the age of five will be vaccinated during the drive. “There has been a considerable decline noticed in polio cases in K-P despite several challenges,” he said. “It is not our target to curtail the number of cases but to completely eliminate the virus.”

Officials told The Express Tribune, 12,059 teams comprising trained health workers have been constituted. They will be monitored by 2,643 area supervisors.



They said the high-risk districts included Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Swat, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank. Children at 67 camps of displaced persons and Afghan refugees will also be inoculated.

Officials dealing with the campaign also said the health ministry carried out an exercise and the ministry made a list of children along with their names as well house numbers so that they could be traced easily if they are not available during the campaign.

A similar drive will also commence in Fata as well as Frontier Regions. The campaign in Fata will be carried out under supervision and security provided by political agents, commissioners and security forces.

According to a statement issued by FATA EOC, around 1,033,554 children below the age of five years will be vaccinated by 3,939 teams. The campaign aims to vaccinate every child and eliminate the virus.

So far, only one polio case has been reported in Fata in 2016 as compared to 16 polio cases in 2015.

Following the de-notification of 36 villages and return of IDPs to South Waziristan Agency, the number of children targeted for polio drive in South Waziristan has increased, the statement read.

It added necessary arrangements have been made to vaccinate the newly registered children.

Meanwhile, 13 poliovirus cases have been confirmed in the first eight months of 2016 with seven cases from K-P, four from Sindh and one each from Balochistan and the tribal areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2016.