Nationwide campaign: PM polio unit head visits rural areas

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD:

The premier’s top polio official visited the city’s rural areas on Monday to monitor the door-to-door conduct of a nationwide anti-polio campaign. Capital Development Authority (CDA) Health Services Director Dr Hassan Orooj briefed Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq on arrangements about the campaign.

CDA plans to vaccinate approximately 290,000 children with over 2,000 polio workers. Vitamin A will be administered to eligible children in this campaign, shared Orooj, adding that around 27,000 doses of blue capsules (for infants aged 6-11 months) and 0.21 million doses of red capsules (for children aged 12-59 months) will also be administered to children. Farooq directed CDA’s health directorate to improve their surveillance system in line with the government’s polio action plan. The Senator also interacted with polio teams and parents during her field visit to boost morale and convince them to actively participate in polio campaigns respectively.

Campaign under-way in Pindi

A five-day anti-polio campaign kicked off in the district, here on Monday to cover more than 750,793 children below the age of five, Executive District Officer (EDO) Health Dr Nasir Mehmood said.

He said that the immunisation campaign was in full swing and the staff deployed for the campaign had been issued special instructions. The EDO said that no negligence in this regard would be tolerated.

Dr Mehmood said that 1,696 mobile health teams were operating in the district to complete the task.

He said that polio drops were also being administered at 291 health centres in order to ensure that all children were immunised.

The EDO urged parents, to come forward and play their role to eliminate the disease from the society.

“The parents should cooperate with the special teams so the set target could be achieved,” he said.

The EDO said that continuous efforts were being made to control polio and special teams had also been formed to cover areas from where complaints about unattended children were registered.

“Special arrangements have also been made to cover cantonment areas of Rawalpindi,” he added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2015.