ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched a special anti-polio campaign to ensure complete eradication of polio from the country.

The campaign has been launched across 115 districts of the country, during which 30 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops.

From Sept 9 to 15, some 286,000 polio workers will go door-to-door to administer drops to children.

“We are grateful to the partners and friendly international organisations’ cooperating with the government in the fight against polio,” the prime minister said.

Drive to continue till Sept 15, with a target to cover 30m children

He expressed optimism that the federal government, in collaboration with provincial governments and partners, will succeed in completely eradicating polio from the country.

“Our efforts to eliminate polio from the country will certainly bear fruit, Insha’Allah,” the prime minister said.

He paid tribute to the efforts of federal and provincial officials, polio workers, and security personnel in the fight against polio.

On this occasion, the prime minister personally administered polio drops to children.

The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health, Dr Mukhtar Bharath, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, representatives of the World Health Organisation, Unicef, the Gates Foundation and the United Nations along with senior government officials.—APP

Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta: A seven-day anti-polio campaign will be launched in Balochistan from Monday.

Under the campaign, polio drops to over 2.6 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops.

The Coordinator of the Emer­gency Operation Centre for Polio in Balochistan, Inamul Haq, appealed to parents to cooperate with the government in eliminating the polio virus from Balochistan, adding that the virus is present in 20 districts of the province.

Preparations for the campaign are complete, and 11,555 teams will participate, including 9,247 mobile teams, 945 fixed sites, and 595 transit points.

Mr Haq acknowledged efforts of polio workers who have performed their duties despite challenging weather conditions and emphasised the need to strengthen the routine immunisation system.

Twelve polio cases have been found in Chaman, Dera Bugti, Qila Abdullah, Quetta, Jhal Magsi, Zhob, Qila Saifullah and Kharan.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024