Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah on Saturday chaired a meeting regarding the upcoming polio eradication campaign that will start on October 13.
Officials said the meeting was attended by Commissioner Karachi Syed Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Health Rehan Iqbal Baloach, EOC Coordinator Irshad Hussain Sodhr, and all commissioners, deputy commissioners, DHOs, and assistant commissioners through video link.
The meeting reviewed the current status of polio in Sindh, the preparedness of the upcoming campaign, and the performance of field teams. The chief secretary said that the National Immunization Days (NIDs) will be conducted across Sindh from 13th to 19th October, targeting 10.6 million under-five children to be administered Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) along with Vitamin A supplements and Over 80,000 polio workers will participate in the campaign.
The CS highlighted that Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had directed all parliamentarians to play an active role in the campaign and help persuade refusing parents to vaccinate their children. He emphasized that the cooperation of public representatives is vital to ensure every child receives protection against polio.
He directed all deputy commissioners to submit daily reports on refusal cases and instructed assistant commissioners to monitor the campaign at the union council (UC) level.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the performance of the assistant commissioner of Sobhodero, the assistant commissioner of Gambat, and the deputy commissioner of Khairpur, the chief secretary warned that negligence in the campaign will not be tolerated.
He further instructed the DHOs to resolve issues related to the cold chain management system to ensure the safe storage and transportation of vaccines. He emphasized holding readiness meetings to finalize all logistical and pre-campaign arrangements.
The chief secretary stressed that every polio team must reach every household and ensure that no child is missed during the campaign.
He also directed that UC teams share their live location with district administrations to strengthen real-time monitoring. Concluding the meeting, Chief Secretary Shah instructed all assistant commissioners to submit 100 percent readiness reports, reaffirming the provincial government’s commitment to completely eradicate polio from Sindh.
