Anti-polio campaign: 3-day vaccination drive begins Monday

This year’s focus is on children in rural and slum areas.

KARACHI:

The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) had put together 527 teams to administer the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to 2.7 million children up to the age of five. The three-day anti-polio vaccination campaign begins on Monday in Karachi and four other districts.

The CDGK health EDO, Dr Nasir Javed, said that over 5,000 health workers will participate in the campaign launched in collaboration with the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI-Sindh).

This year’s campaign focuses on the katchi abadis (slums) and rural areas. It was delayed for a week because of the cyclone threat in coastal areas.

There will be 284 health centres set up in different areas. In case of delays, he advised parents to take their children to these centres themselves.

“This time we have made sure that none of the volunteers or health workers administering the OPV are younger than 18,” he said.

Teams will also be set up at bus and railway stations to make sure that children leaving or entering the city are vaccinated.

“The CDGK faces variable challenges such as people from slums and the constant influx of people that include a considerable number of children under five,” said the EDO. The Town Health Officers (THO) are responsible for making sure that the community leaders and peshimams tell parents to get their children vaccinated.

“THOs would also be responsible for the vaccinators’ teams,” he said.

Any complaints about the vaccination teams can be written and sent to the area’s THOs and the Karachi district coordination officer.





Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.