ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the entire nation on Friday to actively partake in administration of polio vaccine to children in order to defeat the menace.
The prime minister was addressing the launching ceremony of national anti-polio campaign, where he lauded the resilience and sacrifices given by polio workers across the country.
“Pakistan is among those two nations which still have polio virus,” said the prime minister, urging mothers to ensure administration of polio drops to their children.
The PM made an open request to everyone regarding the administration of polio vaccine to children.
On the recently-launched national campaign, the prime minister said that under the campaign, 40 million children will be fed polio drops.
The prime minister also highlighted the threat to polio workers from extremists, adding that defeating polio is mandatory for the country.
He urged the entire nation to actively participate in the ongoing anti-polio drive.
The 17th report of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) declared 2019 as a horrible year for Pakistan’s polio programme and ‘a year of triumph for the poliovirus'.
The number of wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan stood at 77 on October 29, 2019 as opposed to only 6 in 2018 during the corresponding time. The figure has risen to 86 so far this year. Of these, 64 cases have been confirmed from KP, 10 from Sindh, 7 from Balochistan and 5 from Punjab.