4-day anti-polio drive in Fata, FRs begins today

 PESHAWAR: A four-day anti-polio campaign will begin in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Frontier Regions (FR) from today (Monday).

In the campaign starting from January 11, children under the age of five years will be vaccinated up till January 14, said a press release.

In polio high-risk areas, including Khyber Agency (Jamrud and Bara tehsils), South Waziristan, North Waziristan and FR Bannu (Bakakhel, Janikhel, Hindikhel and Sintanga), children will be vaccinated for seven days.

“The Fata Secretariat officials, with support of UNICEF, WHO and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), has prepared 3371 teams, which will administer anti-polio drops to about 1.004 million children in Fata and FRs,” said the communiqué.

Last year, only 16 polio cases surfaced in Fata and FRs: one polio case in North Waziristan, two in South Waziristan, two in FR Peshawar and 11 in Khyber Agency.

ACS Fata Mohammad Aslam Kamboh, in a recently held polio programme review meeting, appreciated various stakeholders over substantial reduction in polio cases and improvement in the quality of anti-polio campaigns, and advised to continue working hard to achieve the programme goals.