QUETTA - Anti-polio drive will be kicked off in six districts of Balochistan on November 28 (Monday) during which 0.978 million children below the age of five will be vaccinated.
“A seven-day Anti polio campaign will start in 203 union councils in six districts of Balochistan,” Coordinator of Balochistan Emergency Operation Center Syed Zahid Shah said in his statement.
EOC Coordinator said all arrangements had been finalized to launch the drive in the high-risk areas of the province. Around 4,160 teams will be deployed to administer anti-polio drops to children below the age of five, he said, adding the campaign will start in Quetta, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Chaman, Mastung and Zhob districts. It may be mentioned here that no case of poliovirus has been reported in Balochistan for the last 19 months as poliovirus has not been reported in the environment of the province since April 2021.
However, the EOC Coordinator feared the presence of poliovirus in other areas of the country and in Afghanistan was a “huge challenge” for Balochistan. He appealed to the parents to cooperate with the polio workers during the polio prevention campaign. “Due to the unflinching support from all segments of the society, the spread of poliovirus has effectively been controlled.”
He termed the role of religious scholars “imperative for the complete eradication” of polio from the country. It may be recalled that as many as 21 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan during the year 2022. About security for the polio teams, Zahid Shah said foolproof security would be provided to all the teams during the drive. Personnel of law enforcement agencies including Frontier Corps, Balochistan Levies, and Police will be deployed to ensure security for the visiting polio teams in all four districts of the province, he maintained
