Anti-polio drive targets 20m kids

EOC deploys officials in priority areas to ensure success of campaign

LAHORE:

The first National Immunization Days (NIDs) of the year in Punjab begins today, targeting over 20 million children under the age of five in the hope of eradicating polio from the province.

The campaign, which will last for seven days in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad, and five days in the rest of the province, will see more than 199,000 polio workers participating in the drive. This includes 16,292 area in-charges, 3,951 union council supervisors, 84,579 mobile team members, 4,853 fixed team members and 2,652 transit team members.

Punjab’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has deployed officials to priority areas to ensure the success of the campaign. Despite not having recorded a case of polio since October 2020, the EOC acknowledges that the presence of the virus in sewage samples in mega-cities is a cause for concern and urges parents to ensure their children receive two doses of polio drops during every immunization drive.

The EOC has also emphasized tracking and vaccination of “Not Available” children, with a focus on the high-risk districts of Faisalabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi. Transit vaccination points have also been set up to immunize cross-border and inter-provincial populations.

“Every single child needs to be vaccinated in order to achieve population immunity and prevent virus circulation if we are to eradicate polio,” said Khizer Afzaal, Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator and Head of the Polio Programme in Punjab. He urged parents to cooperate with transit teams and to realize that immunization was a safe and effective means of safeguarding their children against the virus.

At least 689,000 children under the age of five years will be administered the vaccine in Sargodha district during the campaign. Talking to the media on Sunday, District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Khaliqdad Niswana said a total of 3,331 teams, including 169 UCMO, 612 area in-charges, 3,036 mobile, 206 fixed and 89 transit teams had been formed in 167 union councils. Dr Niswana added that 7,500 workers, including 524 of the education department, 155 of welfare, 107 of civil defence and 27 of other departments would perform duties in the field during the drive.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2023.