LAHORE: A polio vaccination drive which was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, will begin in Punjab from the upcoming month.
According to the details, the government has started preparations to launch the campaign in the second week of July.
In this regard, standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been finalised while polio workers will be given training before the beginning of the drive.
Punjab Health Secretary retired Captain Muhammad Usman, while confirming the news, recalled that the previous drive was interrupted due to the pandemic.
Last month, a polio case was reported in Punjab, taking the nationwide figure for this year to 49. According to Punjab health officials, the virus was a three-year-old boy hailing from Taunsa, Dera Ghazi Khan.
As per the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme’s website, the total number of polio cases reported in Pakistan this year has reached 49 – 03 from Punjab, 17 from Sindh, 19 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 10 from Balochistan.
Moreover, global polio eradication campaigns were also suspended in March for the first time in three decades amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by the poliovirus mostly affecting children under the age of five.
It invades the nervous system and causes paralysis or even death. Unfortunately, Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan and Nigeria, affected by poliovirus.
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