Public health: Polio vaccination campaign kicks off

“We aim at 95 per cent coverage in the areas where the campaign is being run,” the official said.


Our Correspondent May 19, 2014
Rafique appealed to people to obtain certificates from a hospital or the health EDO’s office a month before travelling to avoid problems at the airport. PHOTO: APP

LAHORE:


A three-day vaccination campaign, in which 6 million children will be administered polio drops, started on Monday.


The campaign aims at exclusively targeting areas where environmental samples were found to be polio-infected. An official in the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) told The Express Tribune that this was the fourth anti-polio campaign in one month in Lahore but the polio workers who administered the anti-polio drops had so far not received the honorarium for the previous campaigns.

“We aim at 95 per cent coverage in the areas where the campaign is being run,” the official said.

Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said no polio case had been reported in the Punjab so far this year. He said children entering the Punjab from other provinces were being administered drops at entry points of the province.

“We are taking all measures to eradicate polio. Last month, three anti-polio campaigns were launched and this month, we’ve started another campaign to ensure every child in the province is vaccinated,” he added.

He said the Health Department had set up polio vaccination and certification centres at all airports, hospitals and health EDOs’ offices.

Rafique said the aim of establishing polio vaccination and certification centres at airports was to facilitate passengers travelling abroad in an emergency. He appealed to people to obtain certificates from a hospital or the health EDO’s office a month before travelling to avoid problems at the airport.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2014.

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