Health Minister Sindh reviews preparedness of anti-polio drive

• Last year there were 20 cases of wild polio reported in KP.
• There have been no cases of Polio since 2021 in Sindh.
• Tracking of missed children should be continued.

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho held a meeting with DCs and DHOs of Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Mirpurkhas Division through an online meeting video link to reviews preparedness of anti-polio campaign.

Last year there were 20 cases of wild polio all reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. In Sindh, there have been no cases of Polio since 2021 and the last reported case of Polio in Sindh was on the 14th of July, 2020. There was one environmental sample found in Karachi in all of 2022, and that was in Malir-Landhi, at Bakhtawar Goth.

For the 2023 readiness plan, there has been a quality assessment that achieved a 92 percent score at Khairpur, Sukkur, Kashmore, Larkana, and Umerkot. Supervisory trainings were completed in all 14 districts and 92 percent of team training was also completed. Districts also received logistics items and vaccines were distributed to divisional stores.

There were also special guidelines for consideration in the National Immunisation Days in 2023 that include special monitoring and supervision of riverine and desert areas. There needs to be the facilitation of teams and supervisors to reach the displaced population that is still surrounded by flood water.

In addition, it should be ensured that 100 percent of the mapping is completed that covers IDP, HRMP, and Agricultural Laborers and also that it identifies seasonally migrating populations and their vaccination status.

Post-campaign planning and tracking of missed children should be continued and it should be recorded with standardized finger marking using the specific ink that is used province-wide for polio vaccination.

Also Read

LHC directs to take action against eateries without parking facilities

The LHC bench issued orders while hearing a petition. LHC showed reservations...

Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Qasim Siraj Soomro, and EOC CoordinatorFayyaz Abbasi were also present during the meeting at the EOC.