Special anti-polio drive in KP from 30th

PESHAWAR: The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to carry out a special polio vaccination drive in three selected districts of the province from Monday.

Over 1.24 million children will be administered polio drops during the campaigntermed as “Outbreak Response’ (OBR) campaign”.Peshawar remained polio-free for more than one and half years, apparently due to the hard work of then EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit.

The polio programme suffered a setback recently when water samples in the provincial capital city were found with polio virus.Pakistan has reported four polio cases and three of them were detected in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

All the three polio cases have been reported from the same union council in Bannu. Abdul Basit later got another assignment and was made secretary relief.

However, the polio programme in KP seemed to have relaxed as it was widely expected that Peshawar will be declared a polio-free city. Abdul Basit has now given the same challenging responsibility to eradicate polio.

The decision to this effect was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Special Secretary Health for Polio Eradication Abdul Basit here in Provincial Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Coordinator EOC Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, team leads UNICEF, WHO & National Stop Transmission of Polio, officials of the Health Department and other relevant stakeholders.

The meeting was informed that during this special five-day vaccination drive commencing from October 30, polio drops would be administered to over 0.9 million children in Peshawar,0.22 million children in Khyber and 0.11 million children in Hangu.

Speaking to the meeting, special secretary health for polio eradication Abdul Basit said that the government is fully committed to root out the menace of polio virus and this resolve is demonstrated by conducting regular polio vaccination campaigns.

He added that we will make all possible efforts to secure the future of our children from this crippling disease. Abdul Basit appealed to all segments of society including parents, elders, religious scholars, civil society and the media to extend their full support and cooperation to the national cause of polio eradication so that the dream of a polio-free Pakistan may come true.

The meeting was informed that 4,438 teams of trained polio workers including 3874 mobile teams, 294 fixed teams and 270 transit teams have been deployed for the implementation of this campaign. Besides 1103 area in-charges have also been appointed for the vigilant supervision of these teams to make sure that all children in the target areas are administered with polio drops. In order to ensure foolproof security of the polio teams 8,268 security personnel have been deployed in the target areas.