Polio eradication: Province-wide vaccination drive kicks off

LAHORE:

The three-day anti polio drive kicked off on Monday with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif administering polio vaccine to four children under five at Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the government hoped to administer polio vaccine to 10.7 million children throughout the province during the three-day campaign. To achieve the target, 38,000 mobile teams have been constituted. He described protecting the young from polio as a “social responsibility”.

Camps have also been set up at the entry and exit points of every city of the province to administer polio drops, said Sharif. The drive will continue till July 18. July 19 will be the Catch-Up Day, when the areas missed will be covered by health teams.

Special Assistant to the chief minister on health Khawaja Salman Rafique, Health Secretary Arif Nadeem, the Health Department director general and Dr Debra Betel, a representative of the World Health Organisation were present on the occasion.

Dr Saeed Elahi, the parliamentary secretary for health, administered polio drops to kids at Children Hospital. “The Punjab government is employing all means to make the province polio-free,” he said, adding that they had tried to create awareness and persuade people about the utility and efficacy of the polio vaccine through campaigns and by seeking help from ulemas.

A Health Department spokesperson said that a special squad had been constituted to talk to parents who had refused to get their children vaccinated.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2012.