Special anti-polio drive to be launched in Balochistan from tomorrow

QUETTA: A five-day special campaign against polio will be launched in Balochistan on Monday.

As per details, 16 cases of polio had so far been reported in Balochistan this year. This is the first anti-polio campaign after a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases in the province.

Talking to media Coordinator of Balo­chistan’s Emergency Operation Centre Rashid Razzaq said 11 districts of Balochistan were currently affected by poliovirus.

He all preparations had been finalized for vaccinating more than 2,098,000 children in 25 out of 33 districts of the province.

Razzaq said 7,443 mobile teams would take part in the campaign while 742 fixed points had been established in Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kohlu, Killa Saifullah, Lasbela, Lora­lai, Mastung, Ziarat, Nasirabad, Sherani, Suhbatpur, Zhob, Qila Abdullah, Pishin, Bar­khan, Bolan, Dera Bugti, Duki, Harnai, Sibi, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Musakhel and Surab districts.

He said personnel of the Frontier Corps, police and Balochistan Levies would provide security to polio teams. Services of religious scholars had also been acquired to convince the parents to get polio drops administered to their children under the age of five years, he added.

The presence of poliovirus in the environment and sewage water of Quetta, Qila Abdullah and Pishin had been proved.

On August 12, Prime Minister Imran Khan had spoken with philanthropist Bill Gates to discuss the latest situation on COVID-19 response and resumption of a polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan.

During the conversation, the prime minister had apprised Bill Gates about the improved COVID-19 situation in Pakistan with a considerable reduction in new cases and fatality rates.

The prime minister shared that the ‘smart lockdown’ policy of the government had proven to be very effective.

“The timely and prudent interventions enabled the government to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on health and economy had successfully averted a larger catastrophe,” he said.

PM Imran had acknowledged the Gates Foundation’s continued support to Pakistan and noted that the repurposing of polio infrastructure played an important role in COVID-19 response.