Nationwide anti-polio drive to kick off next week

ISLAMABAD: The nationwide polio eradication campaign will kick off on September 25 after the polio virus was detected in environmental sites in different cities, ARY News reported.

The campaign will be launched in three phases across the country, say sources, adding that the first phase will be launched from September 25, the second from October 2 and final phase will be kicked off from October 9 to 13.

The five-day campaign called Outbreak Response (OBR) will be held in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts.

Caretaker Federal Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan Saturday vowed that his ministry was providing and utilising all available resources to eradicate polio from Pakistan permanently till the end of the year 2023.

“Polio-free Pakistan’ is a national goal which is now close to our mission of ending polio”, he said while talking to a private news channel.

He assured that the caretaker government is making all out efforts to root out the polio virus from the country and these endeavors will produce positive results.

The health minister also urged the citizens to cooperate with teams for the complete eradication of the crippling disease from the country.

“The Health Ministry has been actively involved in the Polio Programme in the past few months and we will ensure that the focus on polio remains unwavering.

“We are regularly holding awarness drives and religious workshops in which we are collectively working with religious scholars to build community trust and convey vaccine safety and efficacy in communities around Pakistan,” he added.