Public health: Three-day polio campaign to kick off on 23rd

CM’s adviser says 18.4 million children will be vaccinated in 3,550 union councils

LAHORE: A polio campaign will be run across the province from May 23 to 25, Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Saturday.

He said the drive was part of National Immunisation Days observed across the country. He said 18.4 million children of less than five years of age would be vaccinated in 3,550 union councils across the province.

He said the provincial Emergency Operation Centre had been directed to coordinate with district administrations regarding arrangements for the campaign, including vaccine supply and mapping of population at a greater risk to the virus.

Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Ali Jan Khan said polio had been declared a national emergency. He said the DCOs concerned must make efforts to make anti-polio efforts successful. He said more than 43,000 polio teams had been formed. Of these, more than 36,000 were mobile teams and 4,340 stationery teams, the secretary said.

Health Services Director General Mukhtar Hussain Syed said, “During previous campaigns, we have identified some union councils that need to be given more attention. The health EDOs concerned have been asked to focus more on these union councils,” Syed said.

He said the authorities had been monitoring movement of people along the provincial borders. He said districts in southern areas of the country would be their focus.

Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Munir Ahmed urged parents to ensure that their children got polio drops. He said parents might also take their children to vaccination centres for vaccination against nine preventable diseases. He said if a polio team did not visit an area, this could be reported at helpline 0800 99000 during the campaign days.

Health units

Medi-Urge, tasked with operating mobile health units in remote areas of southern districts, told Rafique on Saturday that the units had provided treatment to more than 18.17 million people. He was informed that 562,663 laboratory tests had been conducted at these units.

Medi-Urge Managing Director Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhry and officials from the Health Department were also present on the occasion.

Chaudhry said that in December 2010, mobile health units had started providing healthcare services to people in Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar.

Rafique learnt that the units had also provided health services to the people displaced from Bannu and some earthquake victims. He said the project would be expanded to other districts. For the purpose, he said, bids would be opened on May 27.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2016.