More than 339,186 homes targeted for eradication of nine paediatric illnesses. PHOTO: INP
The fifth phase of Sehat ka Insaf was completed in the city on Saturday after 0.65 million children were inoculated in 95 union councils (UC) of the city.
Inaugurating Saturday’s campaign at UC Gulbahar No 4, Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai said after successfully completing four rounds against nine vaccine-preventable diseases, they are hopeful Sehat ka Insaf will achieve its desired results.
“The target of Saturday’s drive was 95 UCs of Peshawar which house 0.74 million children in more than 339,186 homes,” he said. Around 5,750 policemen were deployed to guard the vaccination teams, according to official figures.
Health workers and volunteers went from house to house to administer vaccines and spread awareness among people about dengue, which is expected to resurface in the next couple of months. The minister added 97 union councils would be targeted in the next phase.
Date marked 2018
For the last several years, security had deteriorated in the province but the government is doing its best to provide health facilities to the people and make the programme a success, claimed Yousafzai.
“The country and especially Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would be free of polio by 2018.”
A milestone
For the last 20 months, sewage samples in Shaheen Muslim Town and Larma UCs, high-risk areas for polio, had been testing positive for the wild poliovirus type-1, on the basis of which the World Health Organization declared Peshawar a global polio reservoir in January this year.
Finally, Yousafzai said, after almost two years, samples tested negative from the two UCs which is a big achievement for the government.
The campaign will continue till April 21 after which not a single child of Peshawar would have been left unvaccinated, said the minister.
Talking to The Express Tribune, District Polio Control Room Focal Person Dr Ikram Khan said Saturday’s target was 741,259 children but due to the absence of some and refusal of parents, 48,639 children were missed. In the fifth phase, only two union councils of Shekhan and Salman Khel which border Khyber Agency were missed.
He revealed as Sehat ka Insaf continues to forge forward, the campaign would be targeting the remaining “tough” UCs near Bara, Khyber Agency.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2014.
COMMENTS (7)
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If true it is probably the best new I have heard since the new government came in power. Well done KPK govt
Where are the haters? Back to hibernation?
The whole credit goes to the KPK government, police department and insafians as well as other volunteers.
This is good effort by Pakistan.
MashaAllah. May Allah help the righteous succeed. Ameen.
Great effort by kpk govt.
Big Salute to PTI and KPK government,the job well done..