Anti-polio campaign begins in 25 high-risk areas

KARACHI: An anti-polio campaign started across the country on Monday (today) to administer the polio vaccine to children up to five years of age.

The campaign will start in all four provinces, covering 25 very high-risk districts for polio. Over 100,000 trained health workers will be engaged in the drive to inoculate children.

In Punjab, 39,000 health workers are taking part in the week-long campaign to administer anti-polio vaccine to over five million children in seven districts, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, DG Khan, Bahawalpur, Layyah, and Mianwali.

In Sindh, the special anti-polio drive started in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions and other high-risk districts of Sindh from today while in Larkana, Sukkur and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions, the drive will start from Wednesday.

Over 30,000 polio workers will administer anti-polio vaccine to over 3.3 million children in the high risk Union Councils.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 2.6 million children will be administered anti-polio drops during a five day campaign. Over 11000 teams will take part in the campaign.

READ MORE: Pakistan determined to eliminate polio: Health Minister

Pakistan has reported eleven cases of polio so far this year as compared to only one in 2021. All cases were reported from North Waziristan.

National Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Dr Shahzad Baig emphasized that the polio campaign requires deep attention and it is our utmost responsibility to completely eradicate poliovirus from the country.

In a statement, he said our aim is ensuring timely and repeated vaccination of eligible children. He said high-risk districts are their top priority to eliminate the poliovirus from  challenging areas.

The Sehat Tahhafuz Helpline 1166 and 24/7 WhatsApp Helpline 0346-777-65-46 will be available to assist parents and caregivers in reporting missed children. ‘

The polio vaccination campaigns are imperative for building immunity among children and preventing possible death or lifelong paralysis.

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