KARACHI: An anti-polio immunisation and Vitamin-A campaign was launched on Monday, targeting 10 million children in the province, which will continue for a week.

Around 2.4m children would be immunised against polio in Karachi that saw the official launch of the campaign by provincial health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho at the Jannat Gul hospital in Sohrab Goth.

According to officials, the drive is part of the national immunisation campaign, which has assumed greater significance after detection of three polio cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Sindh, they said, special attention would be paid to high-risk districts while testing of environmental samples has been increased.

“Security for more than 75,000 vaccinators has been beefed up and over 5,000 personnel will be actively engaged for the purpose. Additionally, an effort has been made to involve people well versed in local languages. This will help win the confidence of local communities,” said an official of the Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication said.

No case of polio had been reported in Sindh in the last two years, he added.

According to health department officials, polio vaccination camps had been set up at 40 places after Eid at provincial entry points where 167,328 children travelling in public transport were vaccinated against polio.

“Mapping of high-risk union councils of Karachi has been done. Officials have been directed to give special attention to cases of refusals, which include private schools,” an official said.

Published in Dawn,May 24th, 2022