36 parents refuse to get their children vaccinated

Three-day anti-polio campaign

MANSEHRA: As many as 36 parents refused to get their children vaccinated during a three-day anti-polio campaign in the district.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, District Health Officer Dr Shahzad Ali Khan said a total of 78 parents had refused to administer polio drops to their children but following pursuance by Health Department, around 42 parents agreed to  the  vaccination. "We had fixed a target to vaccinate 292,819 children of five years and below age in the district and administered polio drops to 300,208 children including those travelling on Karakoram Highway and Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road to other parts of the country," said Dr Shahzad.

In response to a query, he said that refusal cases, which were reported during the recent anti-polio campaign, were not of chronic nature.  He said he was optimistic that those cases would soon be resolved. The official said a total of 973 polio teams, including 870 mobile and 33 transit units had been constituted for the recent polio drive and they worked under 248 area heads in all the 59 union councils and three Afghan refugee camps in the district.