Anti-polio drive starts in May

KARACHI:

A meeting regarding the threat of poliovirus spread held at Sindh Secretariat on Monday decided to conduct a vaccination drive next month.

The meeting discussed the situation after the recent poliovirus case detected in South Waziristan and the possibility of virus entering Sindh as people come back from hometowns in K-P to work in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput and Provincial Minister for Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho chaired the meeting attended by Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon, Home Secretary Saeed Ahmed Mangrejo, Health Secretary Zulfiqar Shah, Provincial EOC Coordinator Fayyaz Abbasi, WHO representatives and all relevant deputy commissioners.

Provincial EOC Coordinator Fayyaz Abbasi while briefing about the polio case in North Waziristan said that a case of poliovirus has been detected in Pakistan after 15 months.

Read More: Disinformation disturbs anti-polio drives

Health Minister Dr Pechuho said that the polio campaign in Sindh province is being carried out in a very good manner and no case of polio has been reported in the last two years.

She further said that a polio campaign would be launched in the province in the month of May. She requested the parents to cooperate with the polio teams.

The provincial health minister said that the role of social mobilises and influencers should be made more effective to persuade parents who earlier refused to administer polio drops.

Dr Rajput directed all the deputy commissioners to launch the polio campaign in full swing and said that 100% of the targets set for the polio campaign should be achieved and no shortcomings would be tolerated in the polio campaign.

"Last mile towards polio free Pakistan is very challenging," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2022.