Over 4.6 Mln Children To Receive Polio Drops In November Campaign: EOC KP

Three days anti-polio drive will be kicked off in 18 high risk districts and Afghan Refugees camps of the province from November 12, next wherein 4.643 million children will be administered polio drops.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Nov, 2018 ) :Three days anti-polio drive will be kicked off in 18 high risk districts and Afghan Refugees camps of the province from November 12, next wherein 4.643 million children will be administered polio drops.

According to a press release issued here on Friday, a special meeting to review operational, logistic and security arrangements of the programme was held at Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Coordinator EOC Abid Khan Wazir in the chair.

Director EPI Dr. Akram Shah, representatives of WHO, UNICEF and BMGF were also present on the occasion.

The chair was briefed in detail about the readiness status of the upcoming anti-polio campaign which will be conducted in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Swat, Malakand, Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Chitral, Battagram, Kohat, Hangu, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, D.I.Khan and Tank.

Speaking on the occasion, EOC Coordinator Abid Khan Wazir said, the upcoming campaign was of high importance as quality campaigns in the low transmission season which help stop virus circulation in the region and knock out the menace for good.

The whole of Peshawar was high risk for polio as virus was circulating and present in the environment and specially Shaheen Muslim Town and adjacent union councils were super high risk as environmental sample collected from the sewage water of the area was continuously positive for the last many months, he added.

Abid Wazir Khan said that in view of virus circulation Deputy Commissioner Peshawar has set up separate administrative unit for Shaheen Muslim Town and adjacent union councils of Peshawar for more focus on addressing issues creating hurdles in polio eradication.

He appreciated sehat muhafiz for the hard work and commitment for polio eradication and stressed that every child has to be reached with two drops of polio as that was the only solution for stopping virus transmission.

Abid Wazir appealed to the parents and cross segments of society to cooperate with the teams and immunize their children against poliomyelitis, a disease that can cripple their children for lifetime.

He said that people should not adhere to anti-polio propaganda by vested elements as ensuring healthy life to children was the prime obligations of the caregivers and every responsible citizen of the country.

Earlier, he was informed that 21138 teams have been constituted to reach out to the target population out of which 15070 were mobile teams, 1175 fixed, 799 transit and 149 were roaming teams whereas for the oversight and quality supervision of the campaign 3945 area supervisors have been deployed.

Likewise, more than 20,000 police personnel will bedeployed to provide security cover to the teams and to ensure that no untowardsituation occurs during the campaign.