KARACHI-Over 10 million children across the province will be immunised during seven days anti-polio drive to be started from October 2, 2023.
A meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Polio Eradication chaired by Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam was informed that more than 80,000 polio workers in the 30 districts will be part of this vaccination drive.
The meeting was attended by Home Secretary Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Additional IG Karachi Khadim Rind, Coordinator Emergency Operations Centre Sindh Arshad Ali Sodhar, and other relevant officials. All district commissioners and deputy commissioners also participated in the meeting via video link.
The meeting reviewed the overall situation of the polio virus and its containment efforts. Coordinator of Emergency Operations Centre Sindh, Arshad Ali Sodhar, informed the meeting that no polio cases have been reported in Sindh for the past 3 years, which is a significant success, and maintaining this success is a significant challenge.
He further mentioned that the training of workers for the polio campaign has been completed, and in addition to polio drops, children will also receive extra vitamin A supplementation during the campaign.
During the meeting, Chief Secretary Sindh, Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam, emphasised the need to launch the anti-polio campaign effectively in the current high-risk union councils to achieve the desired results. He instructed all deputy commissioners to closely monitor the polio campaign and ensure that their respective officers submit daily reports.
The chief secretary also directed the Health Department to ensure that children are administered polio drops at all railway stations and bus terminals. He also instructed education department officials to ensure that polio drops were administered to children in both private and government schools during the campaign.
It’s worth noting that in the upcoming polio campaign starting on October 2, more than 10 million children will be administered polio drops, with over 80,000 polio workers and supervisors participating.
During the meeting, chief secretary Sindh also announced government assistance for the injured polio worker Huma Ashraf who was injured in a train accident during duty. He stated that Huma Ashraf would receive Rs10 million from the Sindh government, and he has issued directives to the Finance Department in this regard.