Taking no risks: Motorbike riding banned ahead of polio drive
Officials said provincial government adopted strict security measures to ensure that children were administered drops.
PESHAWAR:
Taking the law and order situation and the threat to vaccinators into consideration, Peshawar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Zaheerul Islam imposed a ban on motorbike riding in the provincial capital ahead of a polio drive in the city.
According to the DC office, Section 144 has been imposed across the district and motorbike riding was banned to avert militant attacks on polio teams or their security escorts.
Officials said the provincial government adopted strict security measures to ensure that children were administered polio drops. They added police personnel will be accompanying the teams.
The district administration reportedly asked primary schools’ managements across Peshawar to keep their institutes closed on the day of the drive so children would be at home and would be able to take the oral polio vaccine.
When contacted, the DC said a total of 4,280 teams would be administering polio drops to children in 97 union councils of the district.
Five new polio cases were reported on September 23, taking Pakistan’s total tally to 171. Of the five cases confirmed by the National Institute of Health laboratory in Islamabad, two were from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and one each from Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2014.
Taking the law and order situation and the threat to vaccinators into consideration, Peshawar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Zaheerul Islam imposed a ban on motorbike riding in the provincial capital ahead of a polio drive in the city.
According to the DC office, Section 144 has been imposed across the district and motorbike riding was banned to avert militant attacks on polio teams or their security escorts.
Officials said the provincial government adopted strict security measures to ensure that children were administered polio drops. They added police personnel will be accompanying the teams.
The district administration reportedly asked primary schools’ managements across Peshawar to keep their institutes closed on the day of the drive so children would be at home and would be able to take the oral polio vaccine.
When contacted, the DC said a total of 4,280 teams would be administering polio drops to children in 97 union councils of the district.
Five new polio cases were reported on September 23, taking Pakistan’s total tally to 171. Of the five cases confirmed by the National Institute of Health laboratory in Islamabad, two were from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and one each from Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2014.