Anti-polio drive to begin in Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa tomorrow

PESHAWAR: A three-day anti-polio campaign will begin in twenty-five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) tomorrow, Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

According to Provincial Health Department, approximately five point six million children aging up to five years will be administered anti-polio vaccine during the campaign, to save them from this crippling disease.

More than twenty-seven thousand teams have been constituted which will visit door-to-door to ensure administering anti-polio drops to each and every child.

Polio teams will also be available at bus stops, railway stations, Afghan refugee camps and other public places to administer anti-polio vaccine.

Similarly, all age anti-polio vaccination campaign will also be started at Pak-Afghan border in Torkham from tomorrow to eradicate circulation of polio virus between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Read more: Govt plans action against social media campaigners targeting anti-polio drive

Strict security measures have been taken for security of polio teams.

As Pakistan closes in on eradicating polio, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s office has urged the country’s telecoms regulator to take action against misinformation spread on social media discouraging vaccination against it and other diseases.

“The parental refusals due to misconceptions regarding the vaccine are emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication,” Khan’s office said in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority head, referring to parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated.