Polio drive launched in 115 districts to vaccinate 31 million children

The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Monday kicked off a sub-national anti-polio vaccination drive in 115 districts to immunize 31 million children against the crippling disease between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah administered a polio drive to children in Karachi. Talking with the media, Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the present government is taking all possible measures for the eradication of polio from the country.

He said that 31 polio cases were reported from Sindh during the previous year. He said that polio drops are not harmful for children. He also appealed to parents not to show laziness in this regard and to administer polio drops to their children. 

According to details, NEOC aims to inoculate 10.6 million children in 13 districts of Punjab, 10 million in 30 districts of Sindh, 7.3 million in 37 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2.3 million in 32 districts of Balochistan, 447,000 in the federal capital of Islamabad, and 137,000 children in two districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.

“During the campaign, over 273,000 polio workers will perform duties across the country,” the NEOC said in a statement. “Parents are urged to fully cooperate with polio teams to protect their children’s healthy future.”

The vaccination drive is being synchronized with vaccination activities in neighboring Afghanistan in an effort to interrupt cross-border transmission, according to Pakistani health authorities.

“Polio workers reach every household, even in the most challenging circumstances, to protect every child,” the NEOC said.

“Every child under five must receive polio drops during this campaign.”

Pakistan has conducted repeated nationwide and targeted vaccination campaigns as it seeks to halt the transmission of wild poliovirus. More than 45 million children under five were targeted in three nationwide campaigns earlier this year.

According to government data, Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8 percent from an estimated 20,000 cases in the early 1990s to 31 last year.

Reporter: Babar Shahzad Turk