MANSEHRA: A four-day special anti-polio campaign began in eight districts of Hazara division on Monday.

Deputy commissioner Aurangzeb Haider launched the campaign by administering anti-polio drops to children during a special ceremony.

Additional deputy commissioner Yasir Khan and representative of Rotary Polio Resource Centre Syed Latif were also in attendance.

District health officer Dr Shahzad Ali Khan told reporters that the health department would cover over 2000 vaccination refusal cases in Hazara division, including 650 in Mansehra. He said five polio cases were earlier reported in Torghar, while vaccination of over 2000 local children was declined by parents.

“The health teams will first cover vaccination refusal cases before reaching out the targeted children in Hazara division,” he said.

Dr Shahzad said the campaign would last until Dec 6 vaccinating 299,265 children in Mansehra district.

“We have formed 1,080 fixed, mobile and transit vaccination teams with over 2,700 people participating in the exercise,” he said.

CHINESE TEAM: A delegation of PhD degree holders from China visited here and asked students to join them in science and technology fields to put Pakistan on the way of development.

“I am impressed by the intelligence of Pakistani students. If they join us for higher education in contemporary disciplines, they can help develop the country,” head of Chinese delegation Fengying Yang told a reception hosted by students and teachers at the Jinnah Basic School and Girls College here on Monday.

The delegation is visiting Pakistan under the Sino-Pak Teachers Exchange Programme.

Ms Yangsaid the Chinese government had taken several initiatives to provide Pakistanis with higher education, so they should benefit from them for national development.

Earlier, the students warmly received visitors on campus and sang Chinese and Pakistan anthems.

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl provincial emir Attaur Rehman inquired after the injured party leader, Mufti Kifayatullah, at the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital here on Monday. Kifayatullah had suffered injuries as unidentified men attacked him with iron rods in Mansehra on Wednesday morning. Mr Rehman criticised the government over failure to arrest the attackers and said the attack was a failed attempt to stop the party from agitating against the PTI government.

“We will continue our struggle against this fascist government until it is ousted,” Rehman told reporters.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2019