Punjab Caretaker Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare and Population Welfare, Dr. Jamal Nasir has said that we should all fight together against polio to ensure a healthy future for our children.
He was speaking after inaugurating the first anti-polio campaign of 2024 by administering polio vaccine drops to children at Auqaf Plaza Rawalpindi on Monday.
CEO District Health Authority Rawalpindi Dr. Ijaz Khan, Coordinator WHO Dr. Shumila, DHO Dr. Ehsan Ghani, DDHO Dr. Hasnain Tirmizi, DDHO Dr. Naveed, District Khatib Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal Rizvi along with other officers were also present on the occasion.
Dr Jamal Nasir said that the fight against this dangerous disease can be achieved only through joint efforts and the current campaign will continue for one week in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Faisalabad while it will continue for five days in other districts of Punjab.
He said that the first anti-polio campaign of the year has started in all the districts of Punjab and during the campaign 2 crore 2.5 lakh children will be administered polio drops in Punjab. He said that 1 million 50 thousand children will be given polio vaccine in Rawalpindi.
He said that parents must give polio vaccine to every child under five years of age.
The provincial health minister said that no case of polio has been reported in Punjab after 2020, thanks to continuous efforts, polio has been eradicated from the whole world except for two countries, and in the two countries polio still exists today and these countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said that polio workers are our valuable asset and despite severe cold, polio workers are rendering services in remote areas.
He said that historic development works were being done in Rawalpindi and the Holy Family Hospital will be opened at the end of this month. Development fund has been approved for various departments including OPD in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, he added.
Dr. Jamal Nasir said, “Work on Rawalpindi Ring Road is progressing rapidly. Work has also been started on Dadhocha Dam to alleviate the water shortage. Work on 58 dams in Rawalpindi division is going on. As many as 26 schools are being upgraded in Rawalpindi to improve the quality of education.
Mobile van service has been started to check patients from place to place and 1400 patients are being checked daily through mobile vans. Quota of journalists has been restored in Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology.”
