Over 7m children to be administered polio drops as five-day drive begins

Kicking off a five-day polio vaccination drive on Monday, Karachi Health Director Dr Muhammad Taufiq urged the parents to have polio drops administered to children, saying the crippling virus was found in sewage samples taken for routine testing from five different areas of the metropolitan last month.

He regretted that some parents were still refusing polio vaccine. “However, there are people who take their kids to private health facilities for polio vaccination,” he said while inaugurating the provincial polio vaccination drive at the Sindh Government Children Hospital, North Nazimabad.

He urged the people to cooperate with polio teams in a bid to eradicate the virus from Pakistan once and for all.  During the polio vaccination drive, also known as Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs), which commenced on Monday and would conclude on Friday, as many as 7,127,711 children under the age of five will be given Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) drops in 21 districts and towns of Sindh, including Karachi, Dadu, Ghotki, Jaccobabad, Kambar, Kashmore, Larkana, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Badin, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Matiari, Naushero Feroz, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Sajjawal, Thatta and Jamshoro. 

The total target for this campaign in Karachi’s 162 Union Councils is 1,748,244 children under the age of five, said an official of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh. Dr Muhammad Taufiq maintained that it was imperative for everyone to own the polio eradication efforts, saying everyone from the country’s top leadership to the vaccinators and lady health workers in the field were united to end this menace from the country.

“The future of our children is at stake and it is up to us to work together to safeguard health for the generations to come,” Dr. Taufeeq said and stressed that combined effort of all stakeholders was playing a very crucial role in the polio eradication drive.

Lauding the efforts of the EOC for Polio in Sindh, he said it was the last push against the polio in Pakistan as the number of polio cases had reduced drastically in the country. He hoped that Pakistan would soon get the status of polio-free state due to combined efforts by the government, the health sector and the people.

Dr Taufeeq and other health officials also visited different wards and suggested making an Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Centre in hospitals more attractive for the patients. He was also of the view the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) was smoothly running its affairs.

On the other hand, Sindh’s EOC for Polio coordinator Fayaz Jatoi said the district administrations and town health management teams had significantly improved the situation with respect to the polio vaccination but there was no room for complacency as the virus could return at any time.

He said everyone must appreciate the efforts and coordination of the Sindh police that have given full security cover during every single campaign to the polio workers for carrying out their jobs.

“During this campaign too, the police will once again provide more than 5,000 cops in Karachi for the security cover, patrolling and enabling a safe and secure environment”, he added.

There have been five cases of polio in Pakistan during 2017 which is an historical low. Out of these the only one case from Sindh was reported in Karachi in August 2017. With regards to the Central and Northern Sindh, no case has been reported for more than one-and-a-half year, the official added.