Tuesday, May 6, 2008, Rabi-ul-Sani 29, 1429    

Owais inaugurates anti-polio campaign in FATA

Staff Reporter

Peshawar— NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Monday inaugurated the anti-polio campaign in FATA by administering polio drops to children under five years of age.

The inauguration ceremony was held here at the Governor House, which was organized by the Directorate of Health Services FATA and attended by officials of the Directorate besides Secretary to Governor Arbab Muhammad Arif and Director Health FATA Dr. Muhammad Zubair Khan.

Earlier, the Governor was briefed about the campaign and was informed that more than one million FATA children would be vaccinated during the three day campaign throughout FATA.

The Governor was also informed about the UNICEF and WHO efforts in this regard. The Governor was told that eight cases were identified in FATA in 2006 but with consistent efforts the number of polio cases had been reduced in 2007 and at present, FATA is a polio-free zone and no case has been identified and confirmed positive.

The grand anti-polio vaccination campaign for FATA titled “Round: NIDs May 06-08,2008” covers a population of 1018415 children below five years of age and the task is to be tackled by 3229 teams. Besides home to home delivery services by the polio teams, there are eight points on the Pak-Afghan border as well, which will administer anti-polio drops to every incoming and outgoing child at the border.

This is to brush aside all chances of polio attack particularly on the population in areas close to the border.

The Governor appreciated the efforts of the Health Directorate FATA and other collaborating Agencies and hoped that the targets would be achieved.

He also urged the tribal population to fully participate in the campaign to save their children from physical disability. He assured that the polio teams would be facilitated and provided full safety and security during the campaign.