HYDERABAD, Aug 18: Hyderabad District Health Officer Dr Mir Ahmed Ali Talpur has said that vitamin A drops will also be administered to children, between the age groups of six months and five years, during the four-day anti-polio campaign that kicks off today and will continue till Aug 22.

Dr Talpur told Dawn on Sunday that vitamin A drops should not be given to children below six months and urged parents and guardians of children to cooperate with vaccinators who would visit door to door in all localities of the district to administer vaccine to children.

He asked religious leaders and managements of seminaries to convince reluctant parents and guardians to allow the polio teams to administer vaccines to their children.

He said that WHO campaign coordinator of Pakistan, Mohammadi Mohammad, would monitor the drive. 750 mobile teams and 94 fixed points set up in government hospitals would cover 297, 844 children during the drive, he said.

He said that 58 medical officers, seven taluka supervisors and 184 area in-charges besides representatives of the WHO, Unicef, officials of the provincial health department and the Hyderabad deputy commissioner would monitor the four-day drive.

District focal person for polio Dr Masood Hussain Jafferi said that a wild polio virus existed in the Hyderabad’s environment. Out of 13 samples taken from sewerage lines at Tulsidas pumping station from July 2012 to July 2013, 12 were found carrying polio virus and only one was found negative in May 2013, he said.

SUKKUR: A large number of doctors and vaccinators took out a rally in Jacobabad on Saturday to create awareness about the crippling polio disease and the ways and means to prevent it.

DHO Dr Ghulam Muhammad Channa who led the rally said in his address to the participants that it was parents’ responsibility to get their children vaccinated against polio.