Anti-polio campaign: ‘Virus being transmitted to other areas from KPK’

The environmental samples from Outfall Road’s sewerage water contained the virus prevalent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

LAHORE:

Children travelling from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa into Punjab are carrying the polio virus with them, Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said on Monday.

The environmental samples taken from Outfall Road’s sewerage water contained the virus similar to that circulating in the KPK.

He said thousands of children in KPK are deprived of polio vaccination.

He was speaking after administering polio drops in Santnagar to launch a three-day vaccination campaign in Lahore. Rafique said that due to the effective and concrete steps taken by the government, Punjab would become polio-free this year.

Rafique said politicians should not waste their energy on agitation but strive instead to eradicate polio from the country. Rafique said the Punjab government had taken concrete steps to eradicate polio but to root it out from the entire country it was necessary to ensure polio teams access to ‘no-go’ areas in all provinces.

Rafique said three anti-polio campaigns would be carried out in Lahore during May. He said the first campaign was being carried out from May 5 to 7, and the other two would be launched in the second and third week of May.

He said special anti-polio campaigns had been scheduled in 10 high risk districts: Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore, Mianwali, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, Sahiwal and Toba Tek Singh. Rafique said 773,000 children would be vaccinated during the three-day campaign in Lahore. The vaccination target for the 10 districts is about 5.2 million children.

Rafique said the top leadership in the Punjab was fully committed to the eradication of polio. He said the government had made arrangements for vaccinating children travelling by buses or trains through Punjab. He said check posts had been set up at all entry points of the province.

Rafique said the administration of polio drops to children coming from the FATA was the KPK government’s responsibility. He said there was a need for national spirit and commitment.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2014.