PESHAWAR, May 31 (APP): Provincial Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah inaugurated the polio vaccine campaign in selected district of the province at Police Services Hospital Peshawar here Friday.
This five-days Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs) campaign is being launched from June 3rd in selected districts of the province.
Special Secretary Health and Coordinator Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abdul Basit, Deputy Coordinator EOC Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, Director General Health Services Dr Muhammad Saleem and officials of UNICEF and WHO as well as other relevant officials were also present on this occasion.
Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah while talking to media, reiterated the provincial government’s strong commitment and unwavering resolve to eradicate polio virus form the province and has emphasized that the only way to root out this menace is to vaccinate each and every under five child in each campaign.
Shedding light on the highest priority being attached to eradicating polio virus, the provincial health minister said that the whole government machinery including administrative officers from top to bottom, health department and law enforcement agencies are all working hand in glove at all levels to ensure the complete eradication of this crippling disease.
On this occasion, the health minister administered polio drops to a child to formally inaugurate this campaign wherein more than 3.56 million under five children will be administered with polio drops.
Responding to a question about refusals coverage, the health minister said that they are engaging all segments of society including parliamentarians, local bodies representatives religious scholars and other influencers to address the misconceptions of refusals parents.
He added that in other countries, parents take their children to health facilities for vaccination but we are providing polio vaccination at their doorsteps. He appeared to parents to cooperate with polio teams and get their children vaccinated
Sharing details of the campaign, EOC Coordinator Abdul Basit said that during this campaign, polio drops will be administered to approximately 3.28 million children in nine complete districts of the province including Peshawar, Khyber, Kohat, Swat, Swabi, Dir Lower, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and D. I Khan, while over 272, 730 children will be vaccinated with polio drops in specific union councils and Afghan Refugee Camps situated in District Bajaur, Buner, Charsadda, Chitral Lower, Chitral Upper, Dir Upper, Hangu, Haripur, Kurram, Malakand, Mansehra, Mardan, Mohmand and Nowshera.
Abdul Basit said that all arrangements had been finalized for the successful implementation of this campaign, adding that 18,319 teams of trained polio workers including 11,229 mobile teams, 5,361 observers, 865 fixed teams, 864 transit teams and 84 roaming teams have been formed to administer polio drops to the children. Besides, 3,675 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 vaccines.
In order to ensure foolproof security of the polio teams during this campaign, approximately 26000 security personnel have been deployed in the target areas, he concluded.
