Punjab Health Department's "Sehat Muhafiz" polio eradication teams will start polio eradication campaign from May 7 and vaccinate about eight million children less than five-year age in 12 districts of the province. "Due to ongoing virus circulation in KP, Balochistan and Sindh, the government has decided to launch campaign in the districts which share boundaries with the other three provinces as well as cities which have huge population movement from the polio-affected areas".
Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir in a statement on Friday said the districts include Lahore, Sheikhupura, DG Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Layyah, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Rawalpindi and Attock. He said the polio vaccine is safe, efficacious, and approved by the government's drug regulatory authorities.
Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Punjab Ali Jan Khan urged parents to vaccinate their children during the five-day campaign especially those who were guests. "The oral polio vaccine is safe and effective and has been used to eradicate polio in almost every country in the world," he said. Punjab completed 2016 without a polio case. But a four-month child from Lodhran ended Punjab's streak of 14 months without a case in 2017, he added.
In 2018, no polio case has been reported in Punjab. Since 2014 there has been an overall 97 percent reduction in polio cases in Pakistan: from 306 cases in 2014 to 8 in 2017. This year only one polio case has been reported from Balochistan. Globally, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries still having polio cases.
Punjab's Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator Dr Munir Ahmed emphasized the need for all children to be immunized during every round of immunization campaign days. Multiple doses of polio vaccine are required for a child to be fully protected-sometimes more than ten. Parents who do not ensure vaccination of their children are risking health and lives of their own children as well as others around them, he added. As long as the virus is being detected anywhere in the country, no child is safe from being infected, he said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.