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| June 3, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1424 |
Children’s vaccination against polio urged
ISLAMABAD, June 2: Unicef has asked people to ensure that every child under five years of age in their house or neighbourhood is vaccinated against polio.
A three-day Sub-National Immunization (SNI) campaign is commencing on Tuesday targeting five million children in 50 high-risk districts throughout Pakistan.
“Make no mistake; this is out-and-out war against an invidious foe. That is why the campaign to eradicate polio is as exhaustive and relentless as the virus itself. We are tightening the noose,” Unicef representative to Pakistan Ibrahim Jabr said.
He said anything less and Pakistan could face a polio revival. Any child not vaccinated poses a risk to all other children because it is children under five who are most susceptible to the virus, he added.
While the high-risk areas are located predominantly in northern Sindh, southern Punjab, central Balochistan and in the Peshawar valley, NWFP, there are pockets scattered all over the country.
These areas are being particularly targeted in a spirited media campaign led by the government with the support of partners WHO, Rotary International, CDC, IFRC, the governments of Canada and Japan and Unicef who are committed to finishing what was started in 1994.
“We are asking the media to make this their battle also and help get the message across, ‘Every Child Every Time’. This is everybody’s responsibility now,” he said.
Mr Jabr said the end game was for polio to be eliminated from the face of the earth as smallpox was in 1979.
The results for eradication of polio in Pakistan have been encouraging. In 1994 there were 1,830 polio cases. In 2002 this was reduced to 90 cases. With 34 cases so far recorded for 2003, this is a very good opportunity to interrupt transmission.—APP
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