Vaccination drive: Anti-polio drive to start on 20th

GUJRANWALA: Gujranwala district health office on Sunday announced that a polio vaccination campaign would be launched September 29. In a statement, health officials said 700,000 children would be vaccinated against polio in Sargodha. The DHO said nearly 200 teams had been formed and were being trained. He said a plan had been developed to vaccinate children against polio. He said teams were being trained through video demonstrations. DHO Rana Muhammad Akram told The Express Tribune that the teams had been formed at union council-level. He said senior officials would be trained in the first round and they would train other workers in the second round. He said polio vaccine would be purchased a few days before the campaign launched. The DHO said the DCO and the police had always played an important role maintaining security of vaccinators and would continue to do so. He said workers were an integral part of the health department and their training was important for the success of polio drives. “There are misconceptions about security of these vaccination drives,” he said. “I want to assure people that these vaccination teams come with the intention of saving your children from crippling diseases. Please cooperate with them as much as you can,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2014.