Preparations for national immunisation campaign reviewed

PESHAWAR: A meeting of the Provincial Task Force for Polio Eradication on Tuesday reviewed the province’s ongoing efforts to eradicate polio and finalised preparations for the upcoming National Immunization Days (NID) campaign, scheduled to be conducted across all districts from May 26 to 30.

With Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah in the chair, the meeting was attended by administrative secretaries, senior officers from law enforcement agencies, representatives of international partner organisations including UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coordinator of the Provincial Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, officials from the National EOC in Islamabad, as well as all Commissioners, Regional Police Officers, Deputy Commissioners, District Police Officers, and District Health Officers participated via video link.

The coordinator of the Provincial EOC briefed the meeting on the progress made on decisions from previous task force meetings and outlined the strategy for the upcoming NID campaign. The campaign aims to vaccinate over 6.5 million children under the age of five. The forum was informed that staff training for the campaign had been completed, and local influencers were being engaged in select areas to boost community participation. It was noted that due to a coordinated strategy during the April round, the number of Union Councils facing operational challenges had been reduced from 276 to 166.

Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah emphasized the importance of building upon the lessons learned during the April campaign to improve the quality and impact of the upcoming May round. He directed all deputy commissioners and District Health Officers to thoroughly review their micro plans and maintain close coordination with field teams to enhance campaign effectiveness through improved training and monitoring.

He stressed the need to ensure success in Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) surveys and instructed the establishment of transit vaccination points to target children on the move.Special micro-planning was also directed for tourist-heavy regions, particularly in Malakand and Hazara divisions, to ensure vaccination of visiting children.