Anti-polio drive starts in Gilgit

GILGIT: “The region is polio free for the past 13 years and God-willing, we will keep the region free of this disease in future too,” said Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly Speaker Wazir Baig at the inauguration of a three-day Polio drive on Saturday. Baig also thanked doctors for their sincere efforts in eradicating the disease.

More than 200,000 children below age five will be administered drops in G-B, a region that has been polio free since a drive against the dangerous disease was launched in the 1990s.

Earlier, officials of the G-B health department noted that they needed the government’s support to keep the region polio free.

At least 1,587 teams will administer drops to children across the region, and the drive will end on March 9.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2011.