27 February 2005	Sunday	17 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, Feb 26: NWFP Health Secretary Abdus Samad Khan on Saturday asked officials of his department to make all out efforts for the success of the three-day polio vaccination campaign commencing on March 1.

Presiding over a meeting of the executive district officers, health, agency surgeons and officials of the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI), he underlined the need for concerted efforts to vaccinate all children against polio.

EPI Deputy Director Dr Waheed Khan said NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan would inaugurate the campaign in the province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said about 5.5 million children, including three million Afghan refugees, would be administered vaccine during the campaign. He said that about 13,000 mobile teams and 2,000 for vaccination centres had been formed.

He said the health department would spend Rs15 million on the campaign and Rs3 million had been allocated by the United Nations Children's Fund for training of staff and social mobilization for the campaign in the NWFP and Fata.

He said only one case of polio had been reported in the NWFP during the current year. He said the number of cases in Punjab was two and Sindh one, while no case had been reported in Balochistan.