Arrangements finalised for immunisation

PESHAWAR: The Emergency Operations Centre Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (EOC) has finalised all arrangements for the October round of National Immunisation Days wherein more than 7.2 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops.

The decision to this effect was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Special Secretary Health for Polio Eradication/EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit here in the Provincial Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) on Friday.

The meeting was attended by team leads of UNICEF, WHO & NSTOP, officials of the Health Department and other relevant officials from communications and operations. The meeting was informed that this five-day campaign was set to be launched in two phases in the province from October 28.

During the first phase of the campaign, commencing from Monday, polio drops will be administered to approximately 6.6 million children in 33 districts of the province including Bannu, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper, South Waziristan Lower and all districts of Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Hazara, Malakand divisions. During the second phase of the campaign, which is set to be launched on November 11, more than 672,000 children will be vaccinated against polio in three districts including Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Lakki Marwat.

A supplementary dose of Vitamin A will also be administered to eligible children throughout the province during this campaign, the meeting was told.

Abdul Basit said that the government is fully committed to eradicating the menace of poliovirus from the region and will leave no stone unturned to secure the future of our children.

Emphasizing the significance of vaccinating every eligible child in every campaign, he stressed upon the vigilant supervision and monitoring of the vaccination drive at all levels to ensure the quality of the vaccination campaign.

He appealed to all segments of society particularly the parents, elders, religious scholars, civil society organizations and the media to come forward and extend their full support to the national cause of polio eradication so that the dream of a polio-free Pakistan may come true.

The meeting was informed that 40,593 teams of trained polio workers including 32,108 mobile teams, 5,018 observers, 1,967 fixed teams, 1,342 transit teams and 158 roaming teams have been deployed for the implementation of this campaign. Besides, 8,243 area in-charges have also been appointed for the vigilant supervision of these teams to make sure that all children in the target areas are administered with polio drops. In order to ensure foolproof security of the polio teams around 50,000 security personnel have been deployed in the target areas, the meeting was told.