Week long anti-polio drive kicks off today

Rawalpindi: As many as 906,011 children under five years of age will be vaccinated against polio during a week-long campaign that will commence in the three tehsils of the district today (Monday).

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the District Health Authority, Dr. Ejaz Ahmed, told APP that children would be vaccinated in the areas of Rawalpindi City, Cantonment, Tehsil Rawalpindi (Rural), Gujar Khan, and Taxila.

Meanwhile, District Superintendent of Vaccination Dr. Muhammad Nadeem of the District Health Authority said that 2,834 mobile teams, 677 area incharges, and 192 Union Council’s medical officers would participate in the drive to complete the immunization task.

In addition, "269 fix centres have been set up to administer the drops," adding that anti-polio drops would also be administered at 125 transit points while teams have been deputed to toll plazas so that no child could miss immunization. Dr. Nadeem added that the objective of regularly conducting anti-polio campaigns was to keep children through protective drops and increase their immunity. He urged the citizens, particularly the parents, to come forward and play their role in eliminating the crippling disease from society.

The parents should cooperate with Special to achieve the set target, he added. Deputy Commissioner Hasan Waqar Cheema directed the officials of the health authority to perform their duty as a national responsibility, adding that no negligence would be tolerated during the campaign.