Role of clerics in polio drive reviewed

RAWALPINDI: As many as 14,042 polio refusal cases were recorded during the recent polio drive in the city. The assistance of social workers and religious clerics also failed to generate desired results. While heading a meeting to review the anti-polio arrangements, the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ali Randhawa directed the District Health Authority (DHA) to devise a strategy with the help of clerics and local community leaders to clear doubts and persuade parents to administer polio drops to their children. The DC said polio was a national issue and it was responsibility of every citizen to play an effective role to make the country polio free. On the occasion, the officials from the health department briefed the meeting. They informed that during the recent polio campaign, that concluded on June 21 in tehsil Gujjar Khan, Murree, Taxila and cantonment areas, 99,681 children remain unattended. They added the number was decreased to 29,063 after three days case response.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2019.