A week-long polio eradication campaign will start in 30 districts of Sindh from January 8 to vaccinate over 10 million children aged up to 5 years against the crippling disease.
The provincial task force for polio eradication, in a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Sindh Dr. Muhammad Fakhar Alam, reviewed matters related to the preparation, implementation and security of the workers and finalized the arrangements, said a statement issued here.
Sindh Home Secretary Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Secretary Health Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Additional IG Karachi Khadim Hussain Rind, Coordinator Emergency Operation Center Sindh Irshad Ali Sodhar, representatives of UNICEF, WHO and other relevant officers attended the meeting while all the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link. CS Sindh stressed effective measures for anti-polio campaigns particularly in high-risk union councils to achieve substantial results and directed all Deputy Commissioners to closely monitor the polio campaign and also submit reports to their respective officers on a daily basis.
Dr. Fakhar instructed the Health Department to make arrangements for administering anti-polio shots to children at all railway stations and bus stands while officials of the Education Department were directed to ensure the vaccination of children both in private and public schools during the campaign.
The CS Sindh also appreciated the cooperation extended by local government representatives during the campaign. The meeting was informed that more than 10.3 million children will be administered anti-polio drops in the campaign while over 80,000 polio workers and supervisors will participate in the seven-day-long campaign. Coordinator Emergency Operation Center Sindh Dr. Irshad Ali Sodhar briefed the meeting that two polio cases were reported in Sindh province in 2023 and both were reported from Karachi division which was a matter of concern.
Effective measures will be taken to ensure vaccination of all the children in Karachi, he said adding that training of the staff has been completed while the security plan for the campaign has also been finalized.
