Anti-polio drive kicks off today in 33 districts
Over 2.4 million children will be administered polio drops
PHOTO: FILE
QUETTA:
A three-day anti-polio campaign will start from today (Monday) in 33 districts of Balochistan.
“All preparations [for the anti-polio drive] have been completed,” Balochistan Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator Rashid Razzaq said on Sunday.
Over 2.4 million children under the age of five would be administered polio drops. Vitamin-A drops will also be given to children.
Razzaq said there would be 10,977 vaccination teams.
“Strict security measures are in place to prevent any untoward incident. The Levies force, police and Frontier Corps would be deployed to protect polio workers,” he added.
Religious scholars to support polio vaccination drive
“Religious scholars are also participating in the campaign to convince parents to have their children vaccinated.”
The official said because of the efforts of the centre’s frontline workers, no polio case had been reported in Quetta, Pishin and Qilla Abdullah.
According to Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta, the constant challenge that anti-polio authorities had to deal with was the influx of the disease from across the Pakistan-Afghan border.
Afghanistan and Nigeria are the other two countries where the disease is still endemic.
He said the government was making it compulsory for everyone crossing the two transit points along the Pakistan-Afghan border to take polio drops. Peshawar, he lamented, remained a safe haven for the poliovirus. He added that the virus retained high prevalence in the megalopolis of Karachi, and the Pak-Afghan border areas with Peshawar considered a headquarters for the virus.
Atta also said a major stumbling block they were facing in eradicating the virus were the parents who turned away vaccinators.
“The distrust of parents is one of the fundamental reasons for the failure of the polio campaign,” he said, adding, “If we are able to win the trust of parents, it will take only take a single campaign to eradicate polio from the country.”
Atta vowed that Pakistan would be completely free from polio by 2020, adding that they were mandating parents to have their children vaccinated.
A three-day anti-polio campaign will start from today (Monday) in 33 districts of Balochistan.
“All preparations [for the anti-polio drive] have been completed,” Balochistan Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator Rashid Razzaq said on Sunday.
Over 2.4 million children under the age of five would be administered polio drops. Vitamin-A drops will also be given to children.
Razzaq said there would be 10,977 vaccination teams.
“Strict security measures are in place to prevent any untoward incident. The Levies force, police and Frontier Corps would be deployed to protect polio workers,” he added.
Religious scholars to support polio vaccination drive
“Religious scholars are also participating in the campaign to convince parents to have their children vaccinated.”
The official said because of the efforts of the centre’s frontline workers, no polio case had been reported in Quetta, Pishin and Qilla Abdullah.
According to Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Babar Bin Atta, the constant challenge that anti-polio authorities had to deal with was the influx of the disease from across the Pakistan-Afghan border.
Afghanistan and Nigeria are the other two countries where the disease is still endemic.
He said the government was making it compulsory for everyone crossing the two transit points along the Pakistan-Afghan border to take polio drops. Peshawar, he lamented, remained a safe haven for the poliovirus. He added that the virus retained high prevalence in the megalopolis of Karachi, and the Pak-Afghan border areas with Peshawar considered a headquarters for the virus.
Atta also said a major stumbling block they were facing in eradicating the virus were the parents who turned away vaccinators.
“The distrust of parents is one of the fundamental reasons for the failure of the polio campaign,” he said, adding, “If we are able to win the trust of parents, it will take only take a single campaign to eradicate polio from the country.”
Atta vowed that Pakistan would be completely free from polio by 2020, adding that they were mandating parents to have their children vaccinated.