K-P polio vaccination to resume on July 20
PHOTO: REUTERS
The provincial government has decided to resume anti-polio vaccination in the province after a hiatus of four months. The anti-polio campaigns were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A small scale campaign has been planned in South Waziristan district from July 20 under the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the government for curbing the spread of coronavirus.
This was disclosed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra during a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday.
Jhagra said that Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life including immunisation programmes. The vaccination campaigns were immediately halted after the pandemic hit the province.
The health minister said that isolation of polio virus from environmental surveillance sites and detection in humans indicate widespread and persistent circulation of poliovirus in the province.
He added that K-P has reported 63 out of the total 108 cases in the country this year. In the current year, three polio cases are reported from South Waziristan district.
The provincial minister said that after the risk of spread of coronavirus through polio vaccination campaign is almost negligible and hence the government has decided to resume polio vaccination campaigns in the country.
He said that they are hopeful that with support of media and local community, a successful campaign in all union councils of South Waziristan would be conducted.
The schedule and scope of next campaign will be decided in consultation with the federal government, he informed. “I wish all the best for our hard working frontline polio workers to save our future generations and the dignity of our beloved country,” Jhagra said.
The EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit said that the three-day campaign will commence from July 20 in all 78 UCs of South Waziristan district during which over 78,000 children under the age of five will be vaccinated.
He said that a total of 609 teams will visit over 48,000 houses in the district adding that 250 supervisors and monitors will be deployed to ensure good coverages and quality campaign. Necessary adjustments in operational strategies have been introduced to minimise the risk of spread of coronavirus, he said, adding that teams will be provided with mask and hand sanitizers.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2020.