Crippling Disease: Anti-polio drive begins in Pindi

Dr Khalid said the drive was launched after sewage samples from these areas indicated the presence of polio virus.

RAWALPINDI: A five-day anti-polio campaign kicked off in 28 high-risk union councils of the city, cantonment area and Taxila tehsil of the Rawalpindi district on Monday.

The campaign aims to cover over 166,000 children. The 28 union councils include 13 of Rawalpindi city, five wards of Rawalpindi cantonment, six union councils of Taxila and four union councils of Rawalpindi tehsil. EDO (Health) Dr Khalid Randahawa said the drive was launched after sewage samples from these areas indicated the presence of polio virus. He said the campaign aims to vaccinate residents in these union councils who have come from outside the district, particularly Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He appealed to the public to cooperate with the health teams and ensure that no child misses out on the vaccine.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2015.