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Thursday March 28, 2024

Ayesha says presence of poliovirus in environment is a clear risk

By our correspondents
April 19, 2017

Urges twin cities to work together in fight against polio

Islamabad

The Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Tuesday reasserted that the presence of poliovirus in the environment is a clear risk, and that both Rawalpindi and Islamabad should continue to work together in close coordination to ensure vaccination of every child in each campaign.

Ayesha made this observation during a visit to various areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to monitor the ongoing national immunisation campaign for polio eradication. She visited a sewerage sample collection site and observed vaccination teams working in the catchment area. The focal person also visited various health centres and localities in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and urged parents to bring their children forward for administration of the magic vaccine that protects them from lifelong disability.

Appreciating the hard work of frontline workers, Ayesha said, “We owe a lot to these dedicated workers, who are leaving no stone unturned to secure a healthy future for our future generations. She also lauded the commitment of the Islamabad administration and called for enhanced efforts to vaccinate children on the move through transit teams. “We are so close to the goal, and can surely get rid of polio forever by working together.”

The current nationwide immunization campaign against polio will target 37.1 million under children below five years of age (18.8 million in Punjab, 8.6 million in Sindh, 5.6 million in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 1.67 million in Balochistan, 1.038 million in FATA, 0.736 million in AJK, 0.223 million in GB and 0.3 million in Islamabad) by utilising over 40 million doses of bOPV.

It will be a five-day campaign and a two-day catch-up activity in core reservoir areas covered through Community-Based Vaccination approach. In mobile team areas, there will be a three-day campaign and a one or two-day catch-up. In the Quetta Block, 253,188 children aged between 4-23 months will be targeted with IPV and 316,485 children with OPV (0-23 months).

A total of 260,000 personnel (21,680 area in-charges, 8,907 UC medical officers, as well as 181,367 mobile, 10,059 fixed and 42,669 transit team members) will strive to achieve predetermined targets across Pakistan. The current polio epidemiology in the country is best ever observed. Cases have declined from 54 in 2015 to 20 in 2016; and the momentum has been maintained in 2017 where the current case count of 2 (from Lodhran and Diamer) compares to 8 at the same point in time during 2016.