Polio vaccination at Punjab’s entry, exit points, says Kardar

LAHORE:Chief Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Uzma Kardar has called upon parents travelling into Punjab to reciprocate to government’s gesture of goodwill by cooperating with polio teams deployed at entry and exit transit points of Punjab so that their children could get protected against the crippling virus which is spreading across the country.

The CMFP said this while visiting Lahore’s four key transit points on Tuesday where polio teams have been deployed considering the movement of population from polio hotspots. She was joined by the polio eradication partners and Lahore District Health Officer Dr Zahid Munir.

During her maiden field mission, the CMFP visited Railway Station, Badami Bagh bus stand, Niazi Adda and Lahore Allama Iqbal International Airport. Ms Kardar acknowledged the hard work of polio teams but expressed her desire to strengthen transit points by working closely with bus companies and bus station owners as per the CM’s vision. During her visit she interacted with polio teams and inquired after their challenges. She also vaccinated a child who had arrived with his parents from Karachi.

She advocated with parents and travelers gathered at the transit points awaiting to catch their bus to vaccinate their children while on the move. She reiterated government’s strong commitment to eradicate polio, saying polio teams faced toughest challenges at the polio transit points. ‘Children either moving out of Punjab or travelling to the province are at heightened risk of being infected with polio. It is therefore mandatory that parents vaccinate their children and reciprocate government’s goodwill gesture to provide free of cost vaccination by cooperating with polio teams’, stressed the CMFP.

Ms Kardar indicated that government planned to take strict measures to ensure all children are vaccinated at transit points. The CMFP urged the bus companies to make regular announcements at the bus stations, urging parents to vaccinate their children before embarking on the travel. She also called upon the companies to abide by laws and give up practice of dropping off travellers away from bus stations as this practice was hampering the eradication of polio. “As the bus drivers drop off travelers away from bus stations, the polio teams deployed at the transit points are unable to vaccinate children, thus contributing to

the virus spread”, Ms Kardar explained.

Online training for clinical management of dengue fever

The Punjab Healthcare Commission and the Dengue Expert Advisory Group (DEAG) have jointly organised an online training for clinical management of dengue fever, which will be held on Wednesday (today).

This training session will focus on the 'Clinical management of dengue patients and referral protocols'. Leading experts Chairperson DEAG and Principal Sahiwal Medical College Prof Dr Imran Hassan, General Secretary DEAG and Associate Professor King Edward Medical University Dr Somia Iqtedar, and Professor of Medicine Rawalpindi Medical University Dr Muhammad Khurram will provide training to the online participants. The two-hour session will start at 11am, and will be attended by general practitioners and medical staff, including doctors and nurses, of the private hospitals. The interaction will be held at the PHC head office, and will be accessible only via a live YouTube stream on the PHC channel, allowing as many healthcare providers as possible to participate.

To ensure a comprehensive understanding of dengue management across hospital departments, the PHC has directed the representatives from all departments, including physicians, doctors, and nurses of the dengue wards and high-dependency units (HDUs) from all shifts involved in the clinical management of dengue cases, to attend this essential training.