Polio drive starts in Karachi, aims to target 10 million children

KARACHI: Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho will inaugurate a polio vaccination campaign on Monday (today) in a high-risk union council in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi, and around 10 million children are expected to be administered oral polio vaccine during the drive, officials said on Sunday.

They said that more than 75,000 vaccinators and supervisors will take part in the campaign, and urged parents to get their children vaccinated against polio when the vaccinators knock on their doors.

So far three polio cases have been reported in Pakistan, all from the North Waziristan area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but fortunately, no case of the crippling disease has been reported in Sindh over the past two years.

Sindh Health Department officials said Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput is personally monitoring the vaccination drive, and has directed that special focus be given in high-risk UCs.

“No negligence will be tolerated in the polio campaign,” Dr Rajput was cited as saying, and he further directed all the deputy commissioners to monitor the polio campaign, and submit reports on departure basis.

The officials said that on the directives of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, all the provincial ministers, MNAs and MPAs will inaugurate the polio campaign in different districts.

The health department officials also said that extraordinary security arrangements are being made to ensure that no untoward incident happens in the province during the vaccination drive.

All private schools will also be persuaded to vaccinate students against the poliovirus, they said, adding that in view of the prevailing weather, the polio campaign will be started early in the morning, and in view of the heat wave, the polio teams will take breaks in the afternoon.

They also said polio vaccination camps had been set up at 40 places at the entrances of the province immediately after Eidul Fitr, and 167,328 children had been vaccinated against polio in 46,515 buses entering the province.