Plans to target 2.2 million children in 188 union councils. PHOTO: AFP
Health officials had feared, initially, that the recent changes in the top-tier of the police will affect the drive but the required policemen reported on duty on the first day, said Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) provincial coordinator Dr Usman Chachar.
"The drive started with the same momentum as the one in January," he said. High-ranking police officials, especially Karachi AIG Mushtaque Ahmed Mahar, have extended their support for the polio drive enthusiastically and honestly.
Speaking to the media at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital, Karachi commissioner Syed Asif Hyder Shah said that to eradicate polio virus meant to save future of Pakistan's children. A helpline has been set up at his office, said Shah, requesting citizens to inform them in case the polio teams don't reach a particular area during the drive.
"I am sure we'll reach every child by May," said Dr Chachar. "If the virus is eradicated from children, it won't survive the environment anymore," he explained, adding that with continuous and dedicated polio drives the teams will interrupt the spread of the virus. The EOC head said that polio drives will only be continued in high-risk areas after May.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2016.
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