Over 7.7 million eligible children to be administered polio drops in vaccination campaign: Eoc

PESHAWAR: Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has finalized all arrangements for National Immunization Days (NID) wherein more than 7.7 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated against polio across the province. While the first phase of the campaign has already been launched in Lakki Marwat and D.I Khan from Feb 26 targeting over 0.6 million children, approximately 7.1 million children will be vaccinated in rest of the province in the second phase of the drive which is planned to be launched from March 3.  A supplementary dose of Vitamin-A will also be administered to the eligible children during this campaign.

The decision to this effect was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Special Secretary Health for Polio Eradication/EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit here in Provincial Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) on Friday. The meeting was attended by Deputy Coordinator EOC Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, team leader UNICEF, WHO & NSTOP, officials of health department and relevant officials from communications and operations. 

Addressing the meeting, Special Secretary Health for Polio Eradication/EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit said that the government is fully committed to eradicate the menace of polio virus from the region and will leave no stone unturned to secure the future of our children.   

Emphasizing the significance of vaccinating every eligible child in every campaign, he stressed upon the vigilant supervision and monitoring of the vaccination drive at all levels to ensure the quality of the campaign and identify gaps during the drive.     

On this occasion, he appealed to all segments of society particularly the parents, elders, religious scholars, civil society organizations and the media to come forward and extend their full support to the national cause of polio eradication so that the dream of a polio-free Pakistan may come true.

The meeting was informed that 31,851 teams of trained polio workers including 28,414 mobile teams, 1,937 fixed teams 1,328 transit teams and 172 roaming teams have been deployed for the implementation of this campaign across the province. Besides, 7,220 area in-charges have also been appointed for the vigilant supervision of these teams to make sure that all children in the target areas are administered with polio drops. 

In order to ensure foolproof security of the polio teams around 48,000 security personnel have been deployed in the target areas, the meeting was told.