A nationwide anti-polio drive began on Monday in 158 districts of the country, with aims to target 34 million children by 99,739 polio teams supervised by 18,604 areas in-charge and 6,490 union council medical officers.
According to a press release issued by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Monday, Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio, visited high risk UCs of Lahore and issued directives to concerned medical officers to efficiently implement the validated micro plans in high-risk areas and oversee performance of health officials for quality polio campaigns. Farooq also administered polio drops to children under five in a local hospital of Lahore.
On the other hand, polio campaigns will start in five districts including Quetta, Swabi, Upper Dir and Lakki Marwat on December 11 in a phased manner.
Field monitors will also share real time monitoring information with NEOC to ensure a smooth conduct of the campaign and quality coverage, the release stated.
Talking to The Express Tribune, spokesman of NEOC, Mazhar Nisar, said special efforts will be made to vaccinate all the children that have been missed on the first day of the campaign. He said it is going to be a three day drive and then on the fourth day there will be catch-up activities to achieve the intended target.
He further said that the federal government has directed all provinces to provide foolproof security to polio teams, especially in high-risk areas.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2014.
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