Anti-polio campaign in Rawalpindi district from Monday

Rawalpindi
A three-day anti-polio drive is being launched in the district on Monday (February 16) under the National Immunisation Day (NID). It will be followed by a two-day mop-up activity on February 19 and 20.
The district health department claimed to have finalised arrangements for the anti-polio campaign during which over 760,000 children below five years of age would be vaccinated against polio in the district.
We have taken special measures to further strengthen the coverage during the up-coming anti-polio drive, said District Health Officer Dr. Rafiq Ahmed while talking to ‘The News’ on Friday. He added that senior staff of the district health department would be deputed to monitor activities during the campaign.
It is important that Rawalpindi district is considered as the high-risk district in the country regarding prevalence of poliovirus though there has not been reported any case of polio within the last four years. Earlier, three polio cases were reported from Rawalpindi district, one each in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
To a query, Dr. Rafiq said the district health department would try to maintain polio-free status for the district in the current year. During the last anti-polio drive in the district, the health department managed to administer anti-polio vaccine to over 98 per cent of the children set as target, he said.
He informed ‘The News’ that the district health department has constituted over 1760 teams for administering anti-polio vaccine to over 760,000 children below five years of age in the district. Over 1400 mobile teams, 260 teams at fixed points and 95 transit teams would carry out activities during the up-coming drive, he said.
To a query, Dr. Rafiq said that polio eradication is top priority of the government and the city district government is striving hard to improve coverage under Expanded Programme on Immunisation.
He added that in a meeting of District Polio Eradication Committee held two days back, the District Coordination Officer directed the district allied departments to provide as much human resource to the district health department as is required to achieve desired results in the up-coming anti-polio campaign.