KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday urged parents, religious and community leaders to support the anti-polio campaign, stating that an aggressive and sustained effort was needed to make the province polio free.

“Together, we must protect our children from this crippling disease through collective efforts,” he said while chairing a meeting of the provincial task force on polio eradication held at the CM’s House.

The meeting also finalised preparations for the upcoming national immunisation days (NIDs) campaign, scheduled to take place from Feb 3 to 9.

The participants of the meeting included, among others, Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon, Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi and representatives from WHO, Unicef, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International.

Health minister says over 81,000 frontline workers will take part in week-long immunisation drive from Feb 3

The CM said that the latest polio data revealed an alarming increase in cases in 2024, with the province reporting 22 cases. “There were eight cases in Larkana, six in Karachi and four in Hyderabad, prompting renewed urgency for intensified efforts,” he added.

Mr Shah emphasised the importance of reaching every child under five, setting a target of vaccinating 10.6 million children across all 1,257 union councils.

The health minister said that over 81,000 front-line workers would be deployed to administer the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Mr Shah was told that during the anti-polio campaign in Dec 2024, as many as 2,178,328 households were targeted, of them, 96 per cent were covered and 80,804 were missed, including 80,804 that were not available and 45,215 who refused.

The CM directed the commissioner to involve local people to control refusal.

Provincial Coordinator Irshad Sodhar informed the chief minister that 100pc of households had been covered in Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad and Sukkur.

The CM also emphasised the importance of vaccinating migrant and mobile populations at transit points.

“Our main focus is to reduce refusals and ensure that missed children, especially in the slum areas of Karachi, which account for 98pc of refusals in Sindh, receive vaccinations,” he stated.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025