1,284 teams formed for polio vaccination

‘Campaign should be properly advertised so no child is missed’

BAHAWALPUR:

“As many as 545,198 children under the age of five will be vaccinated against polio in a three-day door to door campaign in district Bahawalpur,” Additional District Collector Amjad Basheer said on Tuesday. He was speaking at a meeting to review the arrangements for the campaign.

Basheer said the campaign would start on September 30 and go on till October 2.

“The children missed on these days will be vaccinated on October 3 and October 4,” he said. The district collector said all the departments concerned should play their part to save children from polio.

He said mobile health teams should work with zeal and the campaign should be properly advertised so that no child was missed.



Health Executive District Officer Ihsanullah Warraich said polio had no cure. He said vaccination was the only way to prevent the disease. He said 250 children worldwide were currently suffering from polio out of which 27 were in Pakistan. “In the Punjab, two children have been diagnosed with polio.”

Dr Rao Zakir Ali, the campaign’s focal person, said 1,284 teams had been constituted for the drive. He said 1,019 out of these were mobile teams and 145 stationed. He said 105 teams would be deployed at general bus stands, railway stations and toll plazas. “15 teams will roam around in the markets.” He said 226 area in-charges, 108 union council medical officers and six tehsil supervisors would be deployed for the campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2013.