ISLAMABAD: The government has initiated a five-day anti-polio campaign in Punjab and three-day anti-polio drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir from today.
This polio vaccination drive is started with an aim to reach 38.7 million children under the age of 5.
Dr. Rana Mohammad Safdar, the national coordinator for polio eradication, says that some 260,000 polio workers will take part in the campaign. He says authorities hope a similar campaign will soon be launched in the tribal regions.
Pakistan is one of few countries where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, this drive will aim to treat more than 6.7 million children who will be administered anti-polio drops. Similarly in Punjab 18.5 million children below the age of five will be administered with anti-polio vaccines. Nearly forty-four thousand teams have been constituted to overlook this process all over the province.
In Azad Kashmir, more than four hundred centers and over two thousand mobile teams have been set up for the campaign.
In Gilgit Baltistan, more than two hundred thousand children will be administered anti-polio vaccine during the campaign.
