Polio workers performing in extreme weather are heroes: PM

The viral video of Iran has left every individual with a sense of awe and pride, says the premier


News Desk January 31, 2019
Prime Minister Imran Khan with polio worker Irfan. PHOTO: TWITTER

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan once again hailed polio worker Irfan, whose video trudging through deep snow to immunise children in the country’s northern areas recently went viral, and thousands of other polio workers as heroes who reach out to children with polio vaccines in extreme weather conditions.

Imran Khan greets Swat's heroic polio workers' team at PM House

The premier took to Twitter on Thursday and said, “Irfan is one of 260,000 heroes who reach out to children with polio vaccines in extreme weather conditions. His viral video has left every individual with a sense of awe and pride.”

“This dedication is what will enable us [Pakistan] to achieve our goal of a polio-free nation #SalamPolioWorker,” Prime Minister Khan continued in his tweet.

On Wednesday, the prime minister met Irfan and other polio workers who rose to fame after braving Swat’s snowy mountains to immunise children.

WATCH: Polio team trudges through snow to immunise children

Focal person to PM Khan on Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta and Health Minister Amir Kiyani were also present in the meeting that held at the PM House. A strategy to eliminate the debilitating disease was discussed in the meeting.

The polio eradication campaign in Pakistan has faced many challenges, from the refusal of parents to administer the drops to attacks on polio teams by militants.

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious debilitating virus that targets the nervous system of children, causing partial or complete paralysis of their limbs.

Since 1988, reported polio cases worldwide have declined by more than 99 per cent, but the virus remains endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

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