Peshawar polio-free since February

Authorities hold successful vaccination campaign in Shaktoi area of South Waziristan after five years

PESHAWAR: The environmental samples for the month of February obtained from different areas of the provincial capital were tested negative, giving hope to the authorities of making Peshawar polio free. However, the lab results for March’s samples are awaited, said officials dealing with anti-polio campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The authorities also revealed that a successful anti-polio vaccination campaign was held in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan Agency after five years. Meanwhile, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas secretariat credited K-P Governor Iqbal Zafar Jaghra and the armed forces for making it possible to carry out the drive in Shaktoi area after five years.

“Shaktoi was inaccessible since 2012 and Governor K-P led the efforts by coordinating with the armed forces to reach out the children in the area,” a statement issued from the Fata secretariat quoted EOC Fata’s Coordinator Dr Fida Mohammad Wazir as saying.



Meanwhile, the EOC K-P Coordinator Akbar Khan, while chairing a meeting in Peshawar on Sunday stated that a comprehensive plan was being made to ensure the country becomes polio free in 2017.

While talking about the polio campaign which is to begin Monday (today), he said that the three-day campaign will target 5.6 million children across the province.

The meeting, which was attended by representatives from UNICEF, EPI, WHO, BMGF and other departments concerned, was also told that 77 camps of Afghan refugees and the temporarily displaced persons will also be targeted during the campaign.



The three-day anti-polio campaign will be held in K-P and Fata. According to the data, 1,032 union councils will be targeted in K-P and teams comprising 17,767 trained health workers have been constituted to administer oral as well as inactivated polio vaccine.

Meanwhile, in Fata over 1.36million children, below the age of five years, will be targeted by 4,239 teams, comprising 3,854 mobile, 284 fixed and 101 transit teams.