QUETTA: Paed-iatricians have said that there is no harm in administering polio drops to children under the age of five in every round of polio campaign as it will boost immunity against the crippling disease.

They were speaking at a seminar held here on Sunday to address concerns of healthcare providers about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and the need for repeated rounds of the campaign.

Prof Dr Iqbal Memon, president of the Pakistan Paediatrics Association, presented a paper on “The need for repeated vaccination rounds in low transmission season”. He said administering polio drops to a child during every round of the drive made him or her more immune to the disease.

He deplored that Pakistan had the highest number of polio cases in the world and every other day four or five children became disabled after being attacked by the polio virus.

The secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association, Dr Mirza Azhar, spoke about the role of general practitioners in promoting the immunisation.

Prof Dr Aisha Mehnaz of the Civil Hospital Karachi called for improving the immunisation coverage to eradicate polio from the country. She urged parents to complete routine immunisation course of their children to protect them from nine deadly diseases.

Dr Sohail Akhtar of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association said the organisation had motivated religious leaders to convince people to get their children vaccinated.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014