PESHAWAR: A three-day polio immunisation drive kicked off in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Saturday amid tight security.

A total of 3,287,429 children under the age of five years will be administered polio drops in 13 districts of the province during the immunisation campaign.

According to the Polio Monitoring Cell, 8,444 mobile, 863 fixed, 737 transit and 67 roaming teams are taking part in three-day drive that has started in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Swat, Kohat, Bannu, Hangu, Karak, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Tank, and Torghar districts of the province.

Read: WHO declares Peshawar world's 'largest reservoir' of polio

Stringent security measures were adopted for the immunisation drive as militant groups often attack polio teams as they see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage.

Fata along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was declared a hub of the virus in Pakistan.

Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic but efforts to eradicate the disease have been severely hindered in recent years as militants continue to attack immunisation teams and polio workers.

This year, 15 polio cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Fata, six from Balochistan and four from Sindh.

Related: 25,000 cases of polio drops refusals reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...