KARACHI, July 21: Advisor to chief minister on health, Nauman Saigol, formally launched anti-polio campaign at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), here on Monday.

The advisor administered oral polio vaccine (OPV) to some of the child patients admitted or visiting the institute. On the occasion, he asked parents to ensure that no child under five years of age was denied of the vaccine during the campaign, which would continue till July 24.

Referring to the fact that out of 44 confirmed cases of polio registered in the country, 22 cases pertained to Sindh, he said the scenario required concerted efforts on part of all including community, parents, health care providers and government agencies to see that no concerned child was left out without administering vaccine.

Addressing the ceremony, Sindh health secretary Ashiq Hussein Memon said that street children and child beggars alongwith other children, falling in the risk group, were needed to be particularly covered.

For the very purpose and also to make local parents and guardians realize the significance of the exercise, the city and town councillors were also being involved, he said.

According to health secretary, arrangements in close coordination with city and town governments has been made to ensure that transportation facilities are made available to the vaccinators to reach difficult areas. He said that support of councillors would help convincing area notables to see that the high risk group to the virus (all under five children) were not left out.

He reiterated that parents were being constantly assured that repeated dosage of polio drops did not cause any harm but enhances the immunity of the recipients.

Speaking on the occasion, the WHO representative, Dr Fatima Kamal, said that the exercise was all the more important as the disease eradicated from 99 per cent of the globe continued to persist in Pakistan, India and Nigeria.

“Even countries like Afghanistan, Zambia and Somalia have been able to attain the zero polio prevalence only recently,” she said mentioning that they are however required to maintain the status-quo for at least three years ultimately enabling to claim absolute eradication of polio.

Meanwhile, the director of Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI-Sindh), Dr Shamsunisa Ansari, has appealed to the local parents to ensure administration of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to their children under five years of age.

She advised them that if vaccinators did not reach their very houses during the special polio campaign till July 24, the parents must immediately call on phone number 0800-12012, the toll free facility established at the EPI Office.

Dr Ansari pledged that immediate response would be provided to the caller as facility was meant to streamline the campaign ensuring that no child would be left out.

She informed that the campaign in high risk districts might also be extended for another two days. She said that the campaign was aimed at vaccinating 8.4 million children under five years of age, in the already identified areas.

According to her, 16,500 vaccination teams are being involved in door-to-door operation in Karachi, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Sanghar, Dadu, Badin, MirpurKhas, Nawabshah, Thatta and Nausharo Firoz.—APP