KP CM Mahmood Khan formally kicks off anti-polio campaign

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday formally kicked off the anti-polio campaign by administering anti-polio drops to a child here at the Chief Minister’s House.

KP Minister for Health Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Secretary Health Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, DG Health Services Dr Niaz Muhammad, Coordinator Emergency Operation Centre, Abdul Basit, representatives of the World Health Organisation and other relevant officials were present, said a handout.

During the campaign, a total of 4.56 million children will be administered anti-polio drops in 21 highly sensitive districts of the province. The chief minister said government had decided to resume anti-polio campaigns, after four months of discontinuation due to Covid-19, under specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Mahmood Khan stated that eradication of polio from the province was on the top of government agenda and the concrete step were being taken in this regard, adding that, all available resources would be utilized to prevent upcoming generations from physical disability.

It was told that, some 19,087 teams of trained polio workers had been constituted which included 17,859 mobile teams and 1,237 fixed teams to participate in the drive. For improving the quality of polio campaigns and to overcome logistics and operational challenges, 4,909 area in-charge have been posted.

Moreover, polio teams have been provided with all necessary items, including hand sanitizers and surgical face masks to minimize the threats of coronavirus spread during the drive. The team supervisors have been provided with thermal guns and other equipment to check the temperature of the team members to ensure their health safety.

The chief minister hoped that the campaign would prove successful with the cooperation of media and local community. While paying tribute to organizations involved in the eradication of polio, he said that polio workers and other frontliners are our heroes who are working in eradicating polio despite challenges.

Meanwhile, another handout said despite un-conducive conditions due to coronavirus pandemic, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) has made a significant increase of 65 per cent in its annual revenue collection during the last financial year.

It was revealed in a meeting of KPRA held here on Wednesday to review its overall performance chaired by chief minister. Provincial Minister Finance Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Secretary Finance Atif-ur-Rehman and Director-General KPRA Fayaz Ali Shah and other relevant officials attended the meeting.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing about the overall performance of the authority during the last year, its future goals, the proposed legal and administrative reforms of the authority, sectoral and geographical expansion of its functions, steps taken by the authority to extend maximum facilitation to the tax-payers and various other aspects.

During financial 2018-19, the KPRA made a revenue collection of Rs10.41 billion which has been increased to Rs 17.20 billion during the last financial year. The authority has set a target of Rs 20 billion in revenue collection during the current financial year, and hopefully, it will make revenue collection more than the set target.