Second anti-polio drive from tomorrow

Punjab is all set to roll out its second national anti-polio campaign for this year from Monday (tomorrow), said the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator and head of the polio campaign Khizer Afzaal on Saturday.

As per the plan, the campaign will continue for seven days in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, whereas it will last for five days in other districts.

He reiterated that multiple doses of polio drops offered the best protection against poliovirus and every single child needed to be vaccinated in order to achieve population immunity and prevent virus circulation if we were to eradicate polio from infected zones. He appealed to the parents to welcome polio teams whenever they come to knock at their doorsteps.

Approximately 204,000 polio workers and supervisors will participate in the drive to immunise 21.26 million children under the age of five against polio. This includes 16,575 area in-charges, 3,985 union council medical officers, over 169,000 mobile polio team members, 4,868 fixed team members and over 2,700 transit team members.

Punjab Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has deployed stakeholders from all areas to facilitate implementation of the polio campaign in priority areas, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2023.