KARACHI: The city administration on Sunday identified eight union councils (UCs) of districts Malir and West as high-risk localities for poliovirus and planned special polio campaign.

Official sources said that a meeting chaired by Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon reviewed the possible impact of the first reported case of polio in North Waziristan in over a year.

It was informed that Karachi and Quetta fell under the medium-risk category and there was apprehension that the poliovirus could hit Karachi due to movement of people between the two cities.

The meeting was also informed that North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Zhob and Sherani in Balochistan were high-risk areas for poliovirus.

The commissioner directed the district administrations to chalk out an extraordinary strategy to keep the city safe from polio.

He pointed out that Karachi remained polio-free for the past two years and urged the official concerned to take measures so that the city’s status could be maintained.

The commissioner also asked the official concerned to convince those families who were reluctant of administration of polio drops on their children.

The meeting was attended among others by Sindh Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Fayyaz Abbasi, technical focal person Dr Ahmed Ali Shaikh, Unicef professional team leader Dr Shaukat Ali.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2022