PESHAWAR: Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Shahzad Khan Bangash on Monday launched anti-polio drive in 19 districts of the province by administering polio drops to children here at Sifat Ghayyur Children Hospital.

As many as 3,456,000 children under the age of five will be vaccinated against polio from January 24 to January 30, 2022.

Deputy Commissioner Peshawar, DMS Sifat Ghayyur Children’s Hospital, representatives of WHO, UNICEF, Health Department and other donor agencies were also present on the occasion.

Talking to media after launch of campaign, Chief Secretary said that eradication of polio virus is a national cause and complete eradication of crippling disease is top priority of the government. He said that teams had been instructed to follow Covid-19 precautionary measures. The Chief Secretary said over 3.4 million children under the age of five would be vaccinated against polio. He said 14,887 teams comprising of trained polio workers would take part in drive and 3,603 area in-charges had also been deployed for effective monitoring of the campaign.

During the anti-polio drive, he said that over 22,000 police and other law enforcement agencies personnel would be deployed for security of polio workers. Chief Secretary urged all sections of the society to immunize their children below the age of five against polio in order to protect them from lifetime disability.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022