Over 10.6m children to be immunised during week-long anti-polio drive in Sindh

Over 10.6 million children across Sindh will be immunized during the seven-day anti-polio drive starting on February 26, for which 80,000 polio workers will perform their duties.

A meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Polio Eradication, chaired by Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam, was informed on Thursday that thousands of polio workers in the 30 districts of the province would be part of this vaccination drive.

The meeting was attended by Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Secretary Health Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Additional IG Karachi Khadim Rind, Coordinator Emergency Operations Center Sindh Irshad Ali Sodhar, and other relevant officials.

All district commissioners and deputy commissioners also participated in the meeting via video link. The meeting reviewed the overall situation of the poliovirus and its containment efforts. Coordinator Emergency Operations Center Sindh Irshad Ali Sodhar informed the meeting that the training of workers for the polio campaign had been completed, and in addition to polio drops, children would also receive extra Vitamin A supplementation during the campaign.

Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam emphasized the need to launch the anti-polio campaign effectively in the current high-risk union councils to achieve desired results. He instructed all deputy commissioners to closely monitor the polio campaign and ensure that their respective officers submit daily reports.

He also directed the health department to ensure that children are administered polio drops at all railway stations and bus terminals. He also instructed education department officials to ensure that polio drops are administered to children in both private and government schools during the campaign. It’s worth noting that in the upcoming polio campaign starting on February 26, more than 10.6 million children will be administered polio drops, with over 80,000 polio workers and supervisors participating.

During the meeting, the chief secretary announced government assistance for the late polio worker, Zahida Panhwar, who died in a road accident during duty in Naushahro Feroz.