LAHORE – Punjab is all set to roll out a special polio eradication campaign from tomorrow (Monday), targeting 13.9 million children.
The campaign which will be rolled out in 15 districts of the province is being labelled as a key step towards blocking local poliovirus circulation.
Districts include Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Attock, Chakwal, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Multan, DG Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sheikhupura, Okara and Gujranwala.
In Lahore, Rawlapindi and Faisalabad, the campaign will last seven days while in the rest of the districts, the campaign will continue for five days only. In all districts, the last two days of the campaign will be allocated to cover the leftover children.
Training of all teams has been wrapped up, and experts deployed to monitor the campaign and vaccine as well as other logistics have been delivered to the districts.
To implement a quality campaign, Punjab polio micro-plans have been reconstituted to encompass high-risk migrant and mobile populations.
Polio teams have been directed to knock at every door to ensure the vaccination of every child, including newborn children, especially in areas inhabited by the priority communities.
As per instructions issued, even if the teams’ previous record suggests that there are zero children in the house, the teams will need to knock at the doorsteps and double-check the availability of guest children.
A special focus has been put on improving the capacity of polio teams by imparting quality training.
“All environmental samples which have tested positive in Punjab are linked to poliovirus clusters active across the border in Afghanistan or other endemic and high-risk districts of Pakistan. This proves that Punjab is at risk of poliovirus importation. Therefore, Punjab is taking concrete steps to prevent the local circulation of the virus by implementing immediate outbreak responses”, said Khizer Afzaal, the head of the polio eradication programme and Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator in Punjab.
