LAKKI MARWAT: Over 140 children under age five were given oral polio vaccine (OPV) during a special campaign arranged here on Friday to cover polio refusal cases.

An official said the refusal cases were reported to the health department from several localities during the ongoing five-day anti-polio campaign.

He said the district health officials shared the data of unvaccinated children with deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb who asked additional assistant commissioners to visit the rural and urban localities and convince the reluctant parents on immunisation of their children against the crippling disease.

Additional AC Sultan Haider met several parents in Ghaznikhel union council and informed them about the usefulness of OPV for children.

The parents said they had been facing drinking water shortage and other problems, but authorities concerned did not bother to resolve them. Mr Haider issued orders to the officials of Public Health Engineering Department and local government department to repair the faulty tube wells and resolve other problems faced by the villagers.

The reluctant parents then allowed the polio teams to administer OPV to 114 children in the area. In Lakki city union council, polio teams immunised 35 children of reluctant parents against the crippling disease.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2020