LAHORE/BAHAWALPUR: Punjab has decided to launch a special polio eradication campaign from June 10 to June 14 in three districts of south Punjab after samples from Ahmadpur in Bahawalpur district tested positive in May.

The campaign would cover three tehsils of Bahawalpur one each of Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan.

A spokesperson for the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre said over 7,000 polio workers would take part in the inoculation drive targeting 0.9m children.

The centre’s coordinator and head of the polio eradication programme in Punjab Khizer Afzaal chaired a meeting with the district health authorities of the three districts on Friday. He confirmed detection of poliovirus in environmental samples of Bahawalpur and instructed the health authority officials concerned to specifically focus on the polio campaign after the detection of the crippling virus there. He highlighted the risk of further spread, saying the virus could infect other cities if not responded.

Mr Khizer reminded the district officials that the Eid holidays were beginning in a few days and massive movement of people was expected, which put the districts at even greater risk of the virus importation.

Addressing the officials belonging from the three district, he stressed treating the polio eradication campaign as a priority and urged the officials to engage as many officials in the polio teams as possible.

“There should be no missing links. No missed children at the end of the campaign. The districts need to ensure proper reporting during and after the campaign and participate in the evening meetings daily with the deputy commissioners,” he underlined.

The officials concerned from the target districts joined the meeting via a video link.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Bahawalpur swung into action for anti-polio measures, including vaccination drive, after the detection of poliovirus in the district.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, the Bahawalpur district had been no virus for the previous many years.

Talking to Dawn, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Tanveer Ahmed Shah of District Health Authority (DHA) said that after the communication from NIH regarding detection of poliovirus in the Bahawalpur district’s sewage samples, the Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Anwar Jappa chaired an emergency meeting of district polio eradication committee to take stock of the situation.

The meeting decided to launch an emergency anti-polio drive for a week in the Bahawalpur district from June 10.

He said poliovirus was detected in the samples, collected from the disposal site of Ahmedpur East city near the dual carriageway and it was suspected that the people living in the vicinity had come from Karachi.

It may be recalled that the samples found with virus had been collected from Ahmedpur city some months ago.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024