Five-day polio immunization campaign begins across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A five-day polio immunization campaign has begun in the country from today aimed at administering drops to 12.6 million children in the country, following multiple cases being reported after a gap of a year, ARY NEWS reported.

According to Radio Pakistan, in Punjab, 39,000 health workers are taking part in the week-long campaign to administer the anti-polio vaccine to over 5 million children in seven districts, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, DG Khan, Bahawalpur, Layyah and Mianwali.

In Sindh, the special anti-polio drive started in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions and other high-risk districts of Sindh today while in Larkana, Sukkur and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions, the drive will start on Wednesday.

Over 30,000 polio workers will administer the anti-polio vaccine to over 3.3 million children in the high-risk union councils.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 2.6 million children will be administered anti-polio drops during a five-day campaign. Over 11000 teams will take part in the campaign.

Similarly in Balochistan, 4900 teams will administer the anti-polio vaccine to 1.2 million children during a five-day drive in 18 districts of the province.

Read More: ONE MORE POLIO CASE REPORTED IN NORTH WAZIRISTAN

Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel said that 25 districts have been declared sensitive during the campaign and vowed to reach out to every child in the country to completely eradicate the crippling disease.

“I request parents to ensure administration of the drops to their children to save their future,” he said and warned that the virus has been detected in sewerage and other samples.