Anti-polio campaign launched in 28 K-P districts

An anti-polio campaign in 28 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has been launched to protect children from the crippling disease.

Secretary Health Amir Tareen Sultan inaugurated the campaign. Talking to the media on the occasion, the health secretary said that it was a very important day in terms of polio eradication.

The five-day campaign is being conducted in 28 districts of the province. The full campaign will be conducted in 17 districts of the province and a partial campaign in 11 districts.

During the campaign, 4.4 million children under the age of 5 years will be vaccinated against polio.

Sultan said that 15,212 teams have been formed for the campaign. He said that more than 25,000 security personnel have been deployed for the security of polio workers.

He further said that during the campaign, special attention was given to Lakki Marwat, Tank, DI Khan and South Waziristan.

Now the administration is trying to convince parents, who refuse polio vaccination, with other methods instead of rounding them up, he added.

In response to a question, the health secretary said that poliovirus is more common in Peshawar, but due to the efforts made with the support of aid agencies, this time the sewage samples have been declared virus-free.

This year, 20 polio cases have been reported in the province. Among them, 17 polio cases have come from North Waziristan, 2 from Lakki Marwat, and one from South Waziristan.

Sultan said that unfortunately, poliovirus is not being eradicated in the province due to negative propaganda.

Due to this negative propaganda and rumours, parents also fall victim to mistakes and do not give polio vaccine to children for which more work is being done now, he added.