RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal on Saturday inaugurated a seven-day campaign against polio in Rawalpindi district by administering a polio drop to a minor.

Mr Mengal said anti-polio campaign is being conducted in seven districts of Punjab including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Layyah, Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Mianawali.

The campaign is being conducted in these districts to check spread of the virus, he said.

Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Tahir Farooq, Chief Executive Officer Health Dr. Lubna Ishaq, District Health Officer Dr Ehsan Ghani and other officials concerned of the district administration were also present on the occasion.

The commissioner said that eradication of polio was a national responsibility.

He said the purpose of conducting these campaigns frequently was to increase the immunity of children to fight against this deadly virus.

He directed the officials concerned to focus on traveling children. Religious scholars and elders of the area should be involved in the campaign to help cover refusal cases on the same day.

While briefing about the arrangements made for the anti-polio campaign, CEO Health Dr Lubna Ishaq said that a target of vaccinating 948,000 children has been set for this campaign for which 4,465 teams have been deployed.

He said that 4,046 polio teams would go door-to-door and administer polio drops to children less than five years in seven tehsils of the district during the campaign.

He said that 307 teams would administer polio drops to children at fixed sites while 147 teams would performed their duties in different areas like bus stands, railways stations and others.

He said that the district administration would ensure the security of the teams while it would help the teams to convince the people about vaccination.

He said that as per Covid-19 standard operating procedures, the vaccinators would wear face masks and the use of sanitizer.

He said all possible steps had been taken by the concerned to make thecampaigna success.

He said that there was no shortage of the vaccination as the government provided sufficient quantity.

He said that the basic aim of the drive to save the new generation from the crippling disease.

He urged the residents of the district to come forward and play their role in eliminating the disease from society and save the new generation.

He said that teams would also meet the prayer leaders and prominent personalities of the area where refusal cases would come.

He said that the district health authority also formed the committee to tackle the refusal cases as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2022