KP, Punjab decide to launch anti-polio drive

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to launch an anti-polio drive in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab provinces, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Sources within the health ministry told ARY News that anti-polio drive will be commenced in the areas declared sensitive for poliovirus.

It was learnt that the anti-polio vaccination campaign will be organised in 31 districts of Punjab and six districts of KP in phases.

According to the plan, the special anti-polio drive will be held in Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu from February 6 to 10 in the first phase. The second phase of the drive will start from March 6 to 10.

Sources added that 1,065,294 children will be administered oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in 247 union councils (UCs) of DI Khan and Bannu districts in both phases.

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In Punjab, the drive will be held in eight sensitive districts from February 13 to 16 in the first phase, whereas, the second phase will start from March 6 to 10 in 15 districts. The third phase will commence from March 13 to 18 in the remaining eight districts.

Sources said that both provincial government completed preparations for organising the anti-polio campaign.

In January, the dream of Pakistan for becoming a polio-free state remained unfulfilled as the first environmental samples from Lahore of 2023 confirmed the existence of the crippling disease.

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In the first month of 2023, poliovirus has been confirmed in the environmental samples collected in the Punjab capital Lahore, said sources within the health ministry, adding that the genetic diagnosis of the virus is underway.

Sources said that Type-1 wild poliovirus was detected in the sewage sample collected from Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Ravi. The health teams collected the sewage samples from different areas of Lahore on January 3.

In 2022, poliovirus had been detected in 37 environmental samples across the country.