5-day Anti-polio Drive Begins In AJK

A five-day anti-polio drive kicked off in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) on Monday in which a total of 720,172 children under 5 years of age will be immunised with polio drops, official sources said

MIRPUR ( AJK) :, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point news - 27th Nov, 2023) A five-day anti-polio drive kicked off in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) on Monday in which a total of 720,172 children under 5 years of age will be immunised with polio drops, official sources said.

Director AJK State Health Department told APP on Monday that in AJK’s capital district of Muzaffarabad, over 117,000 children up to five years would be administered the Polio vaccines and vitamin 'A' drops during the drive, to be continued till December 1 without any pause.

At least 3995 mobile teams of paramedical staff have been constituted to visit door to door to administer the polio vaccine and vitamin ‘A’ drops during the campaign across AJK - where a total of 448 fixed centers at local government hospitals and subordinate health facilities in 309 Union Councils, have been set up by the State Polio Eradication Committee of the AJK State Health Services Department with the coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO), the sources said while unveiling the AJK-wide breakup of the immunization campaign.

The total staff, involved in the AJK-wide national drive include mobile teams comprising over 5000 workers visiting door to door to immunize the children of and under 5 years of age with the polio vaccine and vitamin ‘A’ drops during the campaign, the sources underlined.

The fixed centers have been set up at state-run hospitals, basic health units, rural health centers as well as various other spots to vaccinate the children with the anti-polio drops.

A total of 169 transit points have also been set up for conducting the drive drive under the supervision of the concerned area in charges, a spokesperson of the State Health Services Department said while elaborating.

The state health department’s Polio Eradication Committee have made adequate arrangement to executive the polio-eradication campaign in a befitting manner, the sources asserted adding that a total of 941 area incharges will supervise the drive at union council’s level across AJK in 35 tehsils and besides a total of 309 Union Council throughout AJK State.

A central polio control room has been set up in the office of the Provincial Program Manager EPI in AJK State’s capital town of Muzaffarabad to monitor the drive and to receive any complaints.