Schools asked to cooperate with polio teams

Islamabad: Private schools and colleges in Islamabad Capital Territory have been asked by their regulator, PEIRA, to help make the upcoming anti-polio vaccination campaign a success.

Though Islamabad has been free from polio since Sept 2008, a routine vaccination campaign has been planned for its 0.15 children from Sept 26 to Sept 30 as part of the country’s fight against the crippling disease.

During the campaign, the government’s health workers will go from door to door to administer anti-polio drops to the children under the age of five years. During previous campaigns, some private schools were seen turn away vaccinators insisting they can’t allow vaccination of children on campus without their parents’ permission.

However, they gave in after the administration informed them it’s unlawful to block the administering of anti-polio drops to the children under the age of five years.  Now, private schools seek the parents’ consent in writing about the vaccination of their children on campus and thus, almost ending the refusal cases.