PESHAWAR - A three-day polio eradication campaign will formally start in high risk districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata today (Monday), in which more than 5.1 million children from KPK and 1.0 million kids from the tribal areas would be vaccinated.
More than 23 cases were reported in the country, out of which 11 cases were relating to Federally Administrated Tribal Areas and four to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Dr Jan Baz Afridi, Deputy Director, Expanded Polio Immunization (EPI) programme.
He said that they had made all possible arrangements to carry out polio eradication campaign in four risk districts, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, and Mardan, and other surrounding areas.
He further informed that they had formed 14,356 teams, including 1,598 fixed and 839 transit teams under the supervision of 3,269 area in-charges.
The EPI Director said that about 496 Lady Health Supervisors would also perform duties to immunize polio drops to children in the high risk districts in the province. “A total of 5.1 million children below the age of five, in which 13,9117 Afghan kids would be vaccinated during the three day anti-polio drive”, he maintained.
Dr Afridi said that polio was much vulnerable in Peshawar and the rest of areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa huge of mass influx other parts and tribal region. He informed that only nine polio cases were reported out of total 11 in Fata in this region. “It was a matter of shame for the entire nation that despite having large resources and teams at our disposal, we are unable to eradicate polio,” he maintained.
He said that polio remains endemic in three countries of the world including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, he said and added that the country would face travel and visa restrictions if it fails in this front.
He urged upon journalists to sensitize the masses about polio, as people listen to and trust in what they see and hear on media.
The EPI Director viewed that health teams alone cannot wipe out polio from the country, given the scale of the problem, unless every citizen joins hand in the fight against the deadly disease. He said that the “two drops can protect our children from lifelong disability, and we have the moral, religious and national responsibility to ensure the vaccination to our children in our villages, union councils, districts and in our province.”
He also paid rich tributes to the health teams for administering drops to the children in door-to-door campaign in the face of so many challenges.