LAHORE:Punjab on Sunday wrapped up a polio Outbreak Response in last remaining two districts, including Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Four districts were part of the campaign which was started on October 30. In Sheikhupura and Rajanpur, campaign lasted five days which was concluded on Friday. While in Lahore and Rawalpindi, the campaign, dubbed Outbreak Response, was held for seven days. Nearly three million children were vaccinated in six days in Lahore and Rawalpindi. The stats for the seventh day were still being compiled until the filing of this report.
In Sheikhupura and Rajanpur, meanwhile, 0.7 million and 0.58 children were vaccinated in five days. Around 4.3 million children have been given the much-needed vaccine in the four districts.
In October, national laboratory had confirmed presence of environmental samples in Lahore and Rawalpindi, prompting experts to launch campaign in the two districts as well as Sheikhupura.
While a polio case was also reported in Sindh in October. Due to movement of population from Sindh to Rajanpur, the district was made part of the campaign.
In a statement after the conclusion of the campaign, head of the polio programme in Punjab Khizer Afzaal urged the provincial authorities to gather detailed data about the polio eradication campaign. Collection of data and analysis is critical to take into account strengths and weaknesses of the campaign, he pointed out.
Afzaal reiterated that quality of the campaign would be assessed very minutely. The EOC head praised polio workers as well as other officials, saying the campaign had been implemented due to their hard work. Mr Khizer recalled that Punjab was free-of polio cases for the last three years, but it was still at risk, due to imported virus from affected districts.