Polio awareness: Provinces told to launch drive

government has called on UN agencies, others to extend all necessary resources in making the country polio free.

ISLAMABAD: The provinces were directed to initiate effective polio awareness campaigns to convince parents to vaccinate their children against the debilitating disease. According to an official of National Polio Eradication Program (NPEP), district health officers (DHO’s) supervised the immunisation campaigns. They were asked to ensure 100 percent coverage during the national anti-polio drive ensuring maximum immunization across the country. The first three-day nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign of the year 2012 was held on January 30 to administer drops to 33 million children under age of five years. 20,104 supervisors and 1830 medical officers monitored the campaign. Meanwhile the government has called on UN agencies, donor governments, and the private sector to extend all necessary resources in making the country polio free.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2012.