Three-day anti-polio drive underway in KP, Balochistan

PESHAWAR: A three-day anti-polio drive has been underway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 16 districts of Balochistan, ARY News reported on Monday.    

In the anti-polio campaign health workers will administer vaccine to 5.6 million children in the targeted districts of the two provinces.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 18,000 teams will take part in the campaign to administer anti-polio drops to more than five point six million children below the age of five years. Anti-polio drops will also be administered to children in 77 Afghan refugee and TDPs’ camps.

Strict security arrangements have been made for security of the polio teams across the province.

In Balochistan, more than 1.7 million children of up to five years of age will be administered anti-polio vaccines.

Three day anti-polio campaign was also underway in Larkana division of Sindh during which 1.5 million children will be administered anti-polio drops.

Pakistan has already made it an official target to rid the country of polio — an infectious viral disease resulting in muscle damage — in 2016.