KARACHI: A week-long anti-polio campaign is set to be started across Sindh on Monday (today) to target some nine million children under the age of five years, officials said on Sunday.

It would be the first province-wide campaign being launched after a gap of five months, they said.

Around 2.3 million of the targeted children reside in the provincial capital.

Sindh has reported 16 new polio cases so far this year -- six of them from Karachi, two each from Hyderabad, Larkana, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas and one each from Shaheed Benazirabad and Sujawal districts.

Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had in a recent meeting said that environment samples collected from across the country including Sindh had tested positive to polio.

“As we go into the low season from now on till June, it is absolutely necessary for us to run quality campaigns to remove poliovirus from environment.

She asked the officers concerned to take eradication of poliovirus as the top priority and ensure that no area was missed.

“I also request all parents to kindly get their children vaccinated against polio every time it is offered. It’s the only way to eradicate the crippling disease and save children from lifelong disability,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, a meeting presided over by Karachi commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani was told that more than 10,000 teams of volunteers would perform their duties during the campaign in the city. They would be provided security by around 4,000 police and Rangers personnel.

The commissioner asked all deputy commissioners to make concerted efforts to achieve the target.

According to official sources, province-wide anti-polio campaign was suspended five months ago because of teams’ “failure in covering the missed children efficiently”.

World Health Organisation (WHO) representatives at the meeting called for making health department’s strategic plan more effective in order to motivate parents and make them understand importance of anti-polio vaccination.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2019