Only 0.08% kids miss anti-polio vaccination in tribal areas

ACS urges authorities to acknowledge the importance of sustaining efforts

PESHAWAR: With only 0.08% missed children in campaigns against polio virus, the previously frontier regions and seven tribal agencies now merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, remain virus-free for over 21 months.

Officials not only credit the field workers for playing a wonderful role but also the monitoring teams who have been identifying every single missed and un-vaccinated child. Officials say one missed child threatens the whole programme and could become the reason for another outbreak.



“Yes, if one child is left un-vaccinated and the virus transfers, it can lead to an outbreak. If one child is impacted the virus can easily spread to another,” a senior health official informed adding the previously tribal regions were a perfect example of the country’s successful drive against the crippling virus.

Officials from the secretariat for the previously federally administered tribal areas stated that all the monitoring benchmarks were met during the anti-polio campaigns since only around 0.08 % of the target children were missed in the anti-polio campaigns but were later vaccinated in catch-up campaigns.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) for previously Fata Sikandar Qayum Khan stated children outside the previously tribal agencies and frontier regions were tracked via android phones to confirm if the they were administered anti-polio drops adding that the children’s names were shared with relevant K-P emergency operation center authorities for tracking and vaccination.



Khan applauded the hard work and relentless efforts of EOC for previously Fata. “A good job done by the team, acknowledged not only by local but also national leadership but it is vital to sustain these efforts for polio eradication,” a statement issued from EOC for previously Fata quoted the ACS as saying.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2018.