LAHORE: A three-day anti-polio campaign to vaccinate more than 8.62 million children of under five years of age in 14 districts of the province starts today (Wednesday).
According to details, polio eradication teams of the Primary and Secondary Health Department Punjab will visit door-to-door to vaccinate children less than five years. The campaigns will be held in the following districts: Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, Sheikhupura, Khanewal, Lodhran, Toba Tek Singh, Vehari, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal.
Primary and Secondary Heath Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir said that the anti-polio campaign, which was earlier postponed, is part of the government efforts to provide protection to the children from polio.
Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Ali Jan Khan has urged parents to get their children vaccinated during the three-day campaign.
Punjab’s Emergency Operation Coordinator Dr Munir Ahmed said that a recent polio case reported from Lodhran and persistent positive environmental samples were a cause of concern. “Positive samples in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan and now a polio case in Lodhran highlighted the need to reach out to all children,” he said.
There was not a single polio case reported in Punjab last year. However, a polio patient reported from Lodhran ended Punjab’s streak of 14 months without a case.
Last year, 20 polio cases were reported in Pakistan with eight each from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and two each from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan.
Globally, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries still having polio cases. Punjab is focusing on southern Punjab districts as well as Rawalpindi and Lahore division due to persistent presence positive environmental samples.
