MANSEHRA: Upper Kohistan district administration is making all-out efforts to administer polio vaccine to children in snowbound areas during the ongoing vaccination campaign.

“Mobile teams are reaching children in snowbound parts,” Upper Kohistan Deputy Commissioner Tariq Ali Khan told reporters on Tuesday.

Over 185 fixed, transit, and mobile teams are taking part in the polio drive, which began on Monday. “We have to administer polio vaccine to as many as 34,950 children during the five-day campaign, including two catch-up days,” Mr Khan said.

The deputy commissioner said he and additional deputy commissioner Khurram Rehman Jadoon were personally supervising the vaccination activity.

Meanwhile, Kohat division commissioner Syed Motasim Billah Shah has asked the relevant authorities to sensitise parents to the usefulness of immunisation against polio.

He issued the directives during a visit to various areas in Karak district on Tuesday. Karak deputy commissioner Asad Sarwar accompanied him.

The divisional commissioner went to the basic health units in the Meethakhel and other areas where he examined arrangements for the vaccination campaign. He also inspected the fixed centres and checked the performance of mobile teams in rural localities of the district.

Mr Billah checked the finger marking of vaccinated children and door marking conducted by the mobile teams.

He also met with parents at fixed centres and during field visits and called upon them to cooperate with vaccinators so they could administer oral polio vaccine to their children without any trouble.

He asked the parents not to link their children’s health with the fulfillment of their demands and to avoid believing in misconceptions about the anti-polio vaccine.

The commissioner said unvaccinated children posed a serious threat to the healthy children, therefore the divisional and district administrations would utilise all available resources to make the ongoing anti-polio drive a success.

A Unicef team observed service delivery and real-time monitoring, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

The Lower Chitral administration and the police have formulated a foolproof security plan to ensure the polio campaign’s success and polio workers’ safety.

District police officer Rifatullah Khan has directed all the sub-divisional police officers and SHOs to directly supervise the security of the teams.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2026