HYDERABAD, Jan 15: The World Health Organisation Consultant Ms. Domicina said on Monday that 80 per cent districts of the country had been made polio-free and they would soon eradicate the menace from the remaining 20 per cent.

She said while addressing a Hyderabad district government meeting on anti-polio campaign presided over by District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput at the district nazim secretariat on Monday that hectic efforts by all the tiers of government in Pakistan made the anti-polio campaigns a success.

She said that there had been no reports of any polio case in Hyderabad for two years still the virus’ activeness in its surrounding districts posed it a serious threat.

She suggested that mosques, schools and media should be the best tools to create awareness among people about the disease and advised nazims and councillors to play an effective supervisory role in making the campaign a grand success.Mr. Rajput asked the district health management and organisations combating polio to ensure 100 per cent coverage during three-day anti-polio campaign to be launched from January 16 to maintain Hyderabad’s status of a polio-free district.

He urged the union council nazims, councillors, minorities, NGOs, women workers and teaching community to participate in the campaign to help achieve targets.

He asked the anti-polio teams to focus on the children of minorities in backward areas and launch an awareness campaign before initiating each anti-polio campaign. All the pubic and private schools had been asked to allow anti-polio teams into the schools premises to administer drops to pupils, he said.

Dr. Masood Jafri, district focal person for polio campaign, informed the meeting that as many as 297,020 children under five years of age were targeted to be vaccinated during the campaign that would run from January 16 to 18. A total of 618 mobile, 84 fixed teams and 29 teams at transit points would vaccinate children in the district, he said.

EDO Health Mehfooz Qureshi, EDO Revenue Abdul Sattar Jatoo, district government officers and representatives of NGOs attended the meeting.