Follow Us on Google News
ISLAMABAD: A five-day polio vaccination campaign will start from March 29 during which over 40 million children under the age of five will be inoculated.
Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Dr Faisal Sultan launched the national polio immunisation drive to raise the immunity of children who remain at risk of the crippling disease.
“COVID-19 continues to challenge us, but we are committed to ensure the continuity of essential public health services during these difficult times. It is an absolute must that all our eligible children stay protected against vaccine-preventable diseases including polio,” said Dr Faisal Sultan.
He said that 280,000 valiant Sehat Muhafiz frontline workers will knock on every door to vaccinate all eligible children in every corner of Pakistan. “It’s every Pakistani’s national duty to ensure that your own children, as well as those around you, are administered polio vaccine without fail,” he said.
Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre, Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI), Dr Shahzad Baig, said they are witnessing the impact of hard work over the last six months in terms of improved epidemiology. reflected by declining polio cases and decreased detection of viruses in sewage samples. He said it is critical that we sustain our progress to achieve eradication.
The polio programme implemented six campaigns in 2020. The country has reported only one polio case so far this year in Balochistan. Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has many unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children at serious risk of the potentially fatal diseases. Both countries are currently facing a challenging situation in polio eradication with the upsurge of the number of polio cases.
Coordinator National EOC Dr. Shahzad Baig alongside international partners administered polio drops to children 👬 at an event held in Islamabad to inaugurate the national 🇵🇰 polio immunisation drive starting from 🗓 29 March across Pakistan 1/2 pic.twitter.com/cej81xwMav
— Pak Fights Polio (@PakFightsPolio) March 26, 2021