No Polio Case Reported In Karachi For The Last One Year: Commissioner

Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Thursday said that no polio case has been reported in Karachi for the last one year as all the polio environmental samples collected from seven districts of the metropolis found negative

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Sep, 2021 ) :Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Thursday said that no polio case has been reported in Karachi for the last one year as all the polio environmental samples collected from seven districts of the metropolis found negative.

This was briefed in a meeting chaired by Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Shaikh, who is also the head of the Commissioner Karachi Task Force for Polio.

The participants were told that testing the sample in sewage water is the basic parameter to determine if anti polio campaigns have been successful. All polio environmental samples tests collected from seven districts of Karachi which were analyzed by the relevant health experts declared negative, they were briefed.

The Commissioner Karachi termed the negative environmental samples as a good news and decided to launch seven-day anti-polio campaign in Karachi on September 20.

It was told that 2.3 million children up-to the age of five years would be administered polio drops in the next seven days during the anti-polio drive, in which over 23,000 polio workers and supervisors would perform their duties to administer the polio drops to the children .

It was decided that COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) would be strictly followed during the anti-polio campaign.

The Commissioner asked the DCs to ensure that the COVID-19 SOPs are implemented and anti-polio campaign do not affect the ongoing efforts for the implementation of COVID-19 SOPs issued by the government.

Coordinator of the Emergency Operation Centre (ECO) in Sindh, Fayaz Jatoi, deputy commissioners (DCs), other senior officials of health department and international partners for polio briefed the Commissioner Karachi about the progress and future targets of polio eradication.

The Commissioner appreciated the efforts being made jointly by the DCs, EOC, health department and world partners for the eradication of polio virus in the city.

Among others, Additional Commissioner-II Jawwad Muzaffer, all DCs, senior officials of the health department, Assistant Commissioner General Aijaz Hussain Rind, Program Officer of the Bill and Milenda Gates Foundation Dr. Erin Stuckey and representatives of the WHO, Unicef, Bill and Milenda Gates Foundation and others were in attendance.