Year's final anti-polio drive starts today

KARACHI:

The final anti-polio campaign of the year in Sindh will begin today (on Monday). During the seven-day campaign, more than 10 million children across the province will be administered polio drops.

According to the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Sindh, the year's final anti-polio drive will start today, and will continue until December 21. During the seven-day campaign, a target has been set to administer polio drops to 10.6 million children across the province.

EPI Sindh stated that wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 2015 and type 3 in 2019; however, wild poliovirus type 1 is still present and remains the most common and dangerous strain.

According to the Sindh Health Department, 23 polio cases were reported from Sindh in 2024, while nine cases have been reported so far this year. These cases were reported from the districts of Badin, Larkana, Qambar, Thatta, Umerkot and Hyderabad.

In addition, the presence of the poliovirus has been confirmed in 233 environmental samples in Sindh. EPI Sindh said that foolproof security arrangements have been made during the campaign, with more than 80,000 security personnel to be deployed.

Karachi administration finalises arrangements

Karachi administration has finalised arrangements for the polio?eradication campaign, being started from Monday, December?21. During the drive, more than 2.1?million children will receive polio drops and 26,000 polio workers will perform their duties. Karachi Commissioner Syed?Hassan?Naqvi has said the city administration, together with the EOC, the Health Department, UNICEF and other international organisations, has planned the campaign to ensure effective implementation and meet targets fixed It was decided that all institutions will make coordinated efrots to achieve the target.