Anti-polio drive to start in 15 KP districts from 27th

PESHAWAR: The government is set to launch a three-day anti-polio campaign in 15 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from January 27 wherein more than four million children are scheduled to be vaccinated against polio.

The decision was made in a meeting held at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with its provincial coordinator Abdul Basit in the chair. Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Director Dr Saleem Khan and heads of technical partners also attended the meeting. The meeting decided to conduct special anti-polio campaign in selected districts of the province to stop virus transmission and protect the children. It was informed that a total of 40,53,967 children would be administered polio drops in the upcoming campaign in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Swat, Malakand, Buner, Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Torghar districts. To reach out to the target children about 12,073 teams have been constituted out of which 10,344 are mobile teams, 993 fixed teams, 661 transit and 75 roaming.

Likewise, for the effective supervision of the campaign 2766 area incharges have been deployed in these districts to ensure quality of the campaign. The meeting was informed that strict security measures have been taken to ensure safety of the teams and smooth running of the campaign.

Speaking on the occasion, EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit appealed to the parents to support the government in eliminating the menace from the country by vaccinating their children. He said that essential immunization was very important as it boosted the child’s immunity against the attacks of various viruses, including polio. He added the parents should ensure the children were vaccinated against the preventable diseases.