Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government launches anti-polio campaign in 11 districts today

PESHAWAR: Amid frequent polio cases surfacing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government is launching a four-day anti-polio campaign in 11 districts of the province from today (Monday).

According to the Emergency Operation Center (EOC), the campaign is being launched in response to an unprecedented rise in polio cases and continuous virus circulation in the region.

It will be followed by a catch-up of the missed children on the fifth day in Torghar, Lower Kohistan, Upper Kohistan, Kolai Palas, Shangla, Battagram, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Charsadda and Momand districts.

In the entire nine districts of the province, 11,93,209 children below the age of five years will be vaccinated by 4,800 teams: comprising 4162 mobile teams, 427 fixed teams, 182 transit teams and 33 roaming teams.

The situation has become quite difficult for the national and international donor agencies to eradicate poliovirus in KP.

KP has reported 64 polio cases so far and the majority is from Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts.

Pakistan this year reported 86 polio cases and got worldwide attention for its failure to get rid of the virus. Besides other challenges, refusal by parents is stated to be one of the biggest issues for polio workers, making it difficult for them to eradicate the virus. Also, fake finger marking is another issue that earned a bad name to the programme and people associated with it.

The campaign is focused on reaching and vaccinating every child for stopping transmission of virus and outbreak in the region.

EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit said that continuous support of parents and caregivers is vital in the upcoming anti-polio vaccination campaigns to curb the virus transmission and outbreak.

He said parents/caregivers should rest assured that the vaccine is the safest. Vaccination of every child contributes to overall and sustained efforts to fail virus transmission and its eradication.

The Torghar district reported seven polio cases and Shangla one case this year so far. The count of polio cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rose to 64 during this year.

Extensive measures have been taken to revamp the programme’s operational and communication efforts and vaccinate missed children in the recent couple of months.