Polio immunization drive planned nationwide from August 02

ISLAMABAD: Federal government has decided to launch a nationwide five-day polio immunization drive from August 02 to inoculate 23 million children against the crippling disease, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

According to sources in Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), the polio drive will begin on August 02 and will culminate on August 06 as it included three days of routine immunization and two days for the catch-up areas to immunize the remaining children.

“The drive will be carried out in 67 districts of the country including 22 in Punjab, 18 in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and 16 districts in Balochistan,” they said adding that 180,000 vaccinators will inoculate 23 million children in the country.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan on June 24 expressed the hope that Pakistan will become polio-free the next year.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Khan said only one case of the crippling disease has been reported this year so far. “InshaAllah we will eradicate polio completely in coming yr,” he said.

He said he spoke with Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, last night and thanked him for the help his Foundation has provided for polio eradication in Pakistan.

The premier said he also asked Bill if he could set up a Microsoft incubation lab in Pakistan.

During the telephonic conversation, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, both exchanged views on the ongoing polio eradication campaign in the country as well as on Pakistan’s response to the public health challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.