LAHORE: District health authorities must dedicate their time and resources to the special polio campaign starting on Monday to prevent the local circulation of the polio virus in the province.

Head of the polio programme in Punjab and Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal said this at a readiness meeting on Friday ahead of the sub-national polio campaign scheduled to begin on April 29 in 10 districts of Punjab.

The districts include Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Sheikhupura, Okara, and Mianwali. While in Rawalpindi, Mianwali, and Sheikhupura, the campaign will be partially held, all areas of the rest of the districts will be fully covered.

In Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad, the campaign will last seven days, and in other districts, it will run for five days.

The last two days of the campaign will be allocated to cover the leftover children. Over 67,000 polio workers will participate in the campaign, including 60,000 mobile team members.

Mr Khizer urged district officials to ensure full focus on polio during the campaign, optimal utilization of SNIDs, and ensuring that no child is left unvaccinated, especially in vulnerable and priority communities.

He inquired about the status of polio team members’ training and expressed displeasure about some districts lagging on this indicator.

He instructed the officials to take polio team training seriously and submit updated status reports by the second half of the day.

Mr Afzaal also expressed concerns about the low number of government accountable teams in some districts, stating that the low numbers could negatively affect the campaign’s quality.

He instructed the officials to work with line departments and involve more government personnel in the polio teams before the campaign.

The EOC coordinator stressed the importance of maintaining the quality of polio human resources and urged provincial monitors to prepare comprehensive reports on the quality of polio human resources. These reports should be submitted to the EOC after returning from the campaign.

He directed the CEOs to personally monitor the performance of polio teams; otherwise, they would be held accountable for any gaps.

During the meeting, the EOC coordinator urged district health authorities to leave their offices during polio campaigns and personally monitor the campaign to ensure timely action.

Mr Afzaal expressed concern about the beginning of the summer season, stating that hot weather presents challenges in maintaining the vaccine cold chain and efficacy.

He directed district officials to ensure vaccine efficacy up to doorsteps by taking concrete measures, frequent monitoring checks, and saving an adequate quantity of ice packs.

He also underscored the importance of transit points, stating that the deployed teams need to be alert and provided with adequate security.

He called upon Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur CEOs to remain in touch with polio officials in their districts to ensure security for polio teams in remote areas.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024