Special anti-polio campaign in S Waziristan areas completed

PESHAWAR: A special anti-polio campaign launched by the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Fata in recently de-notified three tehsils of South Waziristan has successfully been completed.

According to an official handout, de-notification of Serwakai, Sararogha and Ladha by the government came at the end of May in response to which the EOC Fata team launched a special campaign in 36 villages of these three tehsils, with the support of 73 polio teams on ground.

The communication said that successful completion of special campaign marks another milestone achieved by the EOC Fata team towards the coverage of remaining inaccessible two percent areas of the Fata.

“Another case response campaign in Frontier Region Bannu and FR Lakki launched in response to the emergence of polio cases in Bannu district, has also been completed with around 99 per cent success in vaccinating the target children. A total of 63,468 children were successfully vaccinated out of the target of 63,600 children,” said the handout. 

In a recently held Low Season PEI (Polio Eradication Initiative) review meeting at the Governor’s House, the governor praised the EOC Fata efforts and announced prize of Rs500,000 for the EOC Fata team for their extraordinary performance during low season.

The governor appreciated maintaining the zero polio case status in Fata for the last six months. He approved award distribution to the best performers at the field level in a ceremony to be held at the Governor’s House after Eidul Fitr.