Year’s last polio campaign gets underway in K-P

CM concedes parental refusal poses the biggest challenge

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan on Monday launched the last anti-polio campaign of the year on Monday. The campaign aims
to vaccinate some 6.752 million children across the province.

Administering polio drops to a child to kick off the campaign, the chief minister said it was a matter of grave concern that new polio cases continue to surface in the province.

He reiterated the government’s resolve to eradicate the crippling virus and make the province a polio-free region.

He conceded that refusals from parents was an impediment in way of polio eradication but hastened to add that the provincial government was amicably tackling those cases and resolving issues through dialogue.

Mahmood insisted that this strategy on addressing refusal cases is working, yielding better results. He vowed that not a single child will be left behind during the anti-polio campaign, adding this year, 75 cases of polio have been reported in the province, including 54 cases from the Bannu and North Waziristan region, which posed a challenge not only for the government but for residents of those areas as well.

He said all stakeholders and each member of society has to come forward and play their role in making the drive a success.

The CM went on to say that they have rendered great sacrifices for the eradication of polio, with as many as 76 polio workers and security forces killed in attacks.

Meanwhile, the health department said that all arrangements for the national immunization days (NID) campaign have been completed in the province with as many as 22,925 teams — including 19,783 mobile, 1,848 fixed, 1,098 transit and 196 roaming teams — having been set up to administer polio drops and Vitamin A to children who are under five-years-of-age to boost their immunity against the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2019.