TAXILA: Officials of the district administration and health department have convinced nomad families to allow them to administer polio drops to their children below the age of five years.

A large number of nomad families living in mud houses near Hazro had been refusing to administer anti-polio drops to their children due to misconceptions. The refusal by these over 20 families having over 50 children had become an issue for the local administration.

The mobile teams of polio workers as well as supervisory staff from the health department and polio monitoring teams frequently visited the families to convince the dwellers but they refused and offered resistance.

After the matter was brought into the notice of the district administration, it was decided that cases would be registered against heads of the families.

But to avert a standoff, Deputy Commissioner Imran Hamid Sheikh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shehryar Arif Khan, Chief Executive District Health Authority Dr Jawad Ellahi, District Health Officer Dr Junaid Tariq and others visited the shanty colony of the nomad families and after prolonged discussion convinced their heads. Subsequently, they allowed the anti-polio teams to administer drops to their children.

Talking to newsmen, Assistant Commissioner Shagfuta Jabeen said refusal cases were reported by anti-polio teams frequently from this colony. She said the officials visited the colony near Hazro and convinced the nomad families to allow the health teams to administer polio drops to their children and the matter was resolved peacefully.

Meanwhile, the five-day anti-polio campaign started in the district on Sunday to cover 297,783 children.

As many as 1,602 teams have been constituted for administering drops to children.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2021