October 14, 2008	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 13: A three-day anti-polio campaign kicked off across Sindh on Monday to meet the target of immunising over 2.24 million children under the age of five.

The campaign has been launched by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Sindh, which has mobilsed 21,000 lady health workers, 2,200 vaccinators and other health workers to visit door to door to administer polio drops to children across the province.

The teams are supported by paramedics drawn from public and private sector health care centres while volunteers, associated with relevant NGOs and CBOs, have also been engaged.

Sindh EPI sources said the team members were fully trained and well-versed in their jobs and had been advised not to immunize any child suffering from diarrhoea. In such a case, the child should be visited again after his recovery from the disease.

The teams have been asked to see that no child was denied the right of this strong immunity against polio, said the sources.

“We are also involving community leaders, including pesh imam of the mosque in the concerned areas and local political leaders, in the campaign to deal with such a situation,” a senior EPI official said.

Meanwhile, Sindh Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed chaired a meeting in his office on Monday to review the anti-polio drive.

Speaking at the meeting, he said that 5,246 mobile teams would visit houses in various areas and 598 teams would discharge their duties at fixed centres.

He said that 321 teams were meant for transit point vaccination while 1,193 areas in-charges and 263 zonal in-charges were engaged to make the drive a success.

The minister urged parents to get their children vaccinated to protect them from polio, adding that the government alone could not eradicate polio from the country. He said teachers, political and religious leaders, social workers and the media must extend their cooperation to the government in this regard.—Agencies