LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has directed to launch an effective five-day anti-polio campaign from Monday (today) with the objective to administer vaccine to 19.2 million children under five years of age across the province.

The chief minister directed the commissioners and deputy commissioners to personally monitor the anti-polio campaign and announced prizes for the best performing districts during the drive.

He said 2,000 vaccinators would be recruited to make the province-wide campaign effective.

He further directed the civil administration to pay special attention to the campaign in Lahore and some affected districts of south Punjab. He termed polio a challenge for the nation. He warned that the deputy commissioners concerned would be questioned if polio cases and environmental samples were found positive.

Mr Buzdar also warned that tampering with the data during the campaign would not be tolerated. He further maintained that 3,500 micro plans had been evolved to make the drive fruitful, adding that over 250,000 officers and officials were participating in it.

At a special meeting of the Provincial Task Force for Eradicating Polio at the chief minister’s secretariat, it was briefed that the polio situation had improved in 13 districts of Punjab, but 10 needed more attention as the situation was not satisfactory there.

Provincial ministers Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mahmoodur Rashid, Dr Murad Raas, the chief secretary, provincial head of the World Health Organisation, leader of the Unicef Lahore team, the primary and secondary healthcare secretary, the commissioner and deputy commissioner and other officials concerned attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2020