HYDERABAD, May 27: With a view to eradicating polio from the district, an anti-polio campaign has been launched here for four days, including the catch-up day, from May 27 to 30 as people of Hyderabad are reported to be at a high risk of catching the crippling disease.

The tenth straight environmental sample taken from sewerage lines at the Tulsidas pumping station Hyderabad in April 2013 is reported positive because polio virus circulates in environment.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, district health focal person Dr Masood Hussain Jafferi said 293,360 children would be administered polio vaccine for which 728 mobile teams, of the total 877 teams, had been formed, 92 fixed centres set up and 57 transit points established, he added.

He said 57 medical officers of 54 union councils (UCs), 175 area in-charges and representatives of the World Health Organisation, Unicef officials of the health department and the deputy commissioner of Hyderabad would monitor the campaign.

He said there were 1,139 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) in the district, but 859 LHWs would actively participate in the campaign and rest of the LHWs (280) would not be able to work due to some problems, including illness, health problems and others. He said 280 LHWs could be called to perform their duties if the target was not achieved.

He appealed to people to cooperate with the visiting teams to make the drive successful. He urged parents and guardians of children under five years to administer the anti-polio drops to their children.

Hyderabad National-Stop Transmission of Polio (N-Stop) officer Dr Nadeem Shah told Dawn that there were 1,289 refusal cases in Hyderabad during the last campaign launched from April 15 to 17.

He said that some people refused visiting teams for administering drops to children. He said that awareness must be given to people about this disease which could make their children disable, if they denied. He said that religious leaders and managements of seminaries must play their role in this respect.

He said that two out of total nine polio cases in Pakistan since Jan 1, 2013, were already reported in Sindh, including Bin Qasim, Karachi, and Dadu. He said that Hyderabad and Gadap, Karachi, were risked areas where polio virus circulated in environment.

He said an environmental sample of May 10, 2013, had been sent to National Institute of Health Laboratory (NIHL) in Islamabad and its report would be received after a month.