Over 5.1mn children to be vaccinated during 3-day anti-polio drive

AMJAD ALI SHAH

PESHAWAR: More than 5.1million children below the age of five would be vaccinated during three-day polio eradication campaign, which will be started in high risk districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from July 16, said Janbaz Afridi, Deputy Director EPI programme while speaking at a seminar on polio here on Friday.

He informed that about 92 cases of polio were detected across the world, in which 23 cases were reported in Pakistan.  He further said the region is at the top regarding polio with

11 cases in Federally Administrative Tribal Areas and four in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 

The seminar held under auspicious of Expanded Polio Immunisation (EPI) Programme Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in collaboration with Department of Health and UNICEF here at Peshawar Press Club, to formally inaugurate three-day anti-polio drive in high risk districts of the province.  It would be carried out from July 14 to 16.

The Chairman Senate Standing Committee on commerce, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, Former Provincial Minister Maulana Amanullah Haqqani, President Peshawar Press Club Saiful Islam Saifi, President Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) Arshad Aziz Malik, UNICEF and WHO representative were present at the inaugural ceremony.

Dr Afridi said that polio is much vulnerable in Peshawar and rest of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa huge influx of people from surrounding and tribal areas. He informed that only nine polio cases were reported out of total 11 in FATA in this region. "It was a matter of shame for the entire nation that despite having large resources and teams at our disposal, we are unable to eradicate polio," he maintained.

He said that Polio remains endemic in three countries of the world including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria; he said and added that the country would face travel and visa restrictions if it fails in this front. He urged upon journalists to sensitise the masses about polio, as people listen to and trust in what they see and hear on media.

Later, addressing the inaugural ceremony, Central Leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Chairman Senate Committee on Commerce, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali appealed the parents to vaccinate their children against polio and assured all out support of his Party in the war against the crippling disease.

Dilating upon his views, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali said that health teams alone cannot wipe out polio from the country, given the scale of the problem, unless every citizen joins hand in the fight against the deadly disease. "I appeal to the parents and to masses to play their individual roles in polio eradication and purge the soil of the menace", he said, adding that children are the asset of the country and should remain as such instead of becoming cumbersome liability on the society.

He said that the two drops can protect our children from lifelong disability, and we have the moral, religious and national responsibility to ensure the vaccination to our children in our villages, union councils, districts and in our province, he added. He also paid rich tributes to the health teams for administering drops to the children in door to door campaign in the face of so many challenges.

On the occasion, Senator Ghulam Ali administered polio drops to the children to formally inaugurate three days' anti-polio campaign in the province.