A country-wide five-day anti-polio campaign is commencing from Monday (today) in three districts of KP and 10 districts of Balochistan where children under the age five will be administered the polio vaccine along with the supplementary dose of vitamin A. According to officials of Emergency Operation Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during the 5-day campaign more than one point two million children up to five years of age will be administered anti-polio vaccine drops, private news channel reported.
In Balochistan, polio vaccination campaign is being conducted in Awaran, Dera Bugti, Gwadar, Hub, Jafarabad, Naseerabad, Sohbat Pur, Khuzdar, Lasbela and Usta Mohammad districts. Health officials said the challenge of polio still existed and emphasized the need for all to work together to eradicate the menace.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease caused by the poliovirus, which mainly affects children under the age of five. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death in some cases. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. “In the first phase of the campaign, around 63,628,95 children will be vaccinated against polio in all districts of Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan, Malakand, and Hazara divisions,” an official of the National Emergency Operation Center was quoted as saying.
During the second phase of the campaign, from Oct. 9-13, around 11,1681 children in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions will be vaccinated against the disease, the official added. “During this anti-polio campaign, vitamin A will also be given to children to increase their immunity,” the official said, adding that children up to the age of five living in Afghan refugee camps throughout the province would also be vaccinated. He said a total of 34,551 teams of trained polio workers would take part in the campaign.
