‘Vaccination only way to fight polio’

Islamabad: German ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck has hailed the five-day anti-polio campaign in the country and advocated vaccination as the only solution to the crippling disease.

The government carried out a drive in all 156 districts of the country to administer anti-polio drops to over 40 million children under the age of five amid challenges posed by the intensifying third wave of coronavirus.

Around 285,000 frontline workers participated in it following COVID-19 safety protocols. "Happy to see anti-polio drive resuming across Pakistan! Vaccination is the only means to end polio in the country," the German envoy said in a tweet.

He said the people should cooperate with vaccinators visiting from door to door to protect their children from polio. According to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are currently the two polio-endemic countries in the world.