LAHORE: The Punjab government kicked off a seven-day anti-polio vaccination drive in the provincial capital on Monday, aiming to vaccinate over two million children under the age of five.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar while sharing the information said that the Lahore police have placed the services of over 1,200 police officers at the disposal of the district administration for proving foolproof security to 6,360 polio workers.

“Everyone needs to continue working with national spirit for the complete eradication of polio. The anti-polio campaign supervisors, health workers and teams would be provided complete security during the administration of the vaccine drops to the children,” he said.

According to Dogar, security cover has been provided to the polio workers in 169 Union Councils of the city including 37 UCs of City Division, 17 of Civil Lines, 33 of Model Town, 23 of Sadar, 19 of Iqbal Town and 40 UCs of the Cantt Division. He further said that 498 motorcycles and police mobiles have also been deputed in field for effective patrolling around the polio teams.

“No compromise would be made on the security of the polio teams and any negligence in this regard would not be tolerated,” he pledged.

The senior police officer said that he has directed the related SSPs, SDPOs and SHOs to personally inspect the security arrangements and the teams of Dolphin Squad, Police Response Units (PRU) and police stations to carry out effective patrolling.

He said that “polio emergency desks” have also been set up in all police divisional offices for quick response and awareness in any emergency situation. “Immediate legal action should be taken in case of any untoward incident of abuse, harassment or violence against the polio teams and the relevant supervisory staff,” he further said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022