Crippling virus: Dahar calls for unity to eradicate polio

KARACHI: Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said that the government was committed to making the province polio-free and all stakeholders must unite to eradicate the virus from the province. In a statement issued on Friday, Dahar said that so far 4,973,423 children had been administered polio drops during the anti-polio drive in 16 towns in Karachi and 14 other districts of the province. The stipulated target was 4,919,693 children under five years of age, he said. The health minister said an anti-polio campaign in five towns of Karachi — Gulberg, Liaquatabad, North Karachi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gadap — will be launched in 20 union councils in the next phase from October 28 to 31. He said that the number of refusal cases was 4,765. However, he assured, efforts are being made to bring refusal cases to zero through consultation and active support of civil society.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2015.