Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, addressing concerns over refusals during the ongoing 10-day polio campaign, called on parents to fully cooperate in eradicating the disease from the province and the country. Expressing concern over families refusing vaccinations, Shah emphasized that refusal would not be tolerated. “I would not accept any type of refusal from the parents,” he said, stressing the need for community involvement to protect children from the crippling disease.
Shah also directed the health department to strengthen the campaign’s effectiveness, while instructing district administrations and the police to address refusal cases firmly. ‘Throughout the world, even smaller and less developed countries have got rid of polio but we, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, are still rearing the virus by refusing to administer polio drops to their children,’ he said and added, ‘enough is enough, we would not allow any parent to refuse giving polio drops to their children.’ “We understand that this is a sensitive issue. There are certain prejudices, misunderstandings and taboos associated with the administration of polio,” he admitted and assured that while the government is spreading awareness, he urged the parents to trust that the Sindh government would take great care children of this nation.
“We want a polio-free Pakistan and the government of Sindh would play a parental role,” the premier of the province said. Murad Shah launched a 10-day vital anti-polio campaign on August 14 with the slogan ‘Get rid of polio.’ The chief minister said that a special anti-polio campaign has been launched in 85 union councils of the city targeting over 1.1 million children under five to receive oral polio vaccine drops. Under the campaign, 1,037,000 children (ages four months to five years) would receive fractional inactivated polio vaccine (f-IPV) injections. The CM has strongly directed the administration and health department to make the campaign successful, achieve the target, and report to him.
