PM Shehbaz Sharif kicks off anti-polio drive

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched a three-day nationwide polio eradication drive by administering polio drops to the children.

Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said that a nationwide drive was being launched to overcome the resurfacing of the polio cases.

The prime minister went on to say that said that floods in the summer season had disrupted the polio drive, but despite all those difficulties, the polio workers carried out the onus with their hard work and commitment.

The prime minister said about 20 cases of polio were reported from Waziristan, but due to consistent efforts, these were restricted and controlled and did not spread to other parts.

The prime minister also lauded those frontline workers and law enforcement agencies personnel who had laid down their lives for achieving the objective and embraced shahadat.

“I have the conviction that all the provincial governments, along with the federal government will continue collaborating to eradicate the disease forever,” he added.

The prime minister also expressed his gratitude to the WHO, stakeholders, related departments, law enforcement personnel and the daughters of the nation for their continuing efforts and commitments.

Earlier, the prime minister also gave away certificates to the best-performing polio workers.

According to details, the federal government has completed consultations with the provinces on the nationwide anti-polio campaign. The campaign will be carried out in two phases.

The first phase will be initiated between January 16 to January 20, while the second phase will be carried out from 23 to 29, the sources said.

Sources said that over 40 million children will be vaccinated in the national anti-polio campaign, children in the age group of 6 to 59 months will be vaccinated with Vitamin A and the aim of Vitamin A vaccination is to improve the immunity of children.

Sources said that the target for anti-polio vaccination of 20.42 million children in Punjab, 9.35 million children in Sindh and 6.9 million children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been set.