National-level inoculation drive to begin in Sept

Extensive campaigns to be held in K-P, FATA.

PESHAWAR: A national-level polio drive is scheduled to begin from September to inoculate around 36 million children.

A senior health official told The Express Tribune as many as 5.2 million and 0.9 million children will be vaccinated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas only. The official, who requested anonymity since he was not authorised to talk to the media, said the provincial health department will also conduct a campaign on its part. This will be carried out in addition to an oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaign across the country by mid-September.

“We have been carrying out polio drives across the province at regular intervals,” he said. “However, this is a national-level project which will naturally cover K-P as well.”

He said the idea is still being deliberated and further details on the initiative will be revealed by August 25.

According to the official, at least 17,000 polio teams will participate in the campaign and only administer OPVs to children up to five years of age since the inactivated polio vaccine [injected] is carried out on the provincial-level only.

In the aftermath

When asked whether the department is prepared to send teams to the flood-affected parts of Chitral, the official said, “We have so far not excluded the district and the campaign there will begin soon.”

Routine immunisation

The K-P government has been carrying out IPV campaigns in several districts. On July 16, it announced such campaigns will become a permanent part of routine immunisation across the province.

So far in 2015, 29 polio cases have been reported across the country; 13 in K-P, eight in FATA and four each in Balochistan and Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2015.