KARACHI, Jan 8: A two-day anti-polio vaccination campaign concluded in the central district of Karachi without any untoward incident on Tuesday.

Heaving a sigh of relief, the deputy commissioner of Karachi Central, Dr Syed Saifur Rehman, said that with the almost all deserving children, who could not be reached for vaccination under the sub-national immunisation activities in December, were administered the oral polio drops during the special drive, relaunched with the support of Rangers and police on Jan 7.

He said 60,000 more children were vaccinated in the four towns of district central. Some anti-social elements and troublemakers who tried to offend polio workers were given “the due treatment” by law enforcers, he said, adding that the number of refusals also remained negligible during the campaign.

Meanwhile, the country’s ambassador for polio eradication, Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, on Tuesday met the families of the slain vaccinators and the workers who sustained gunshot wounds during the last month polio eradication campaign, adds APP.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Adviser to the Prime Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, Karachi Commissioner Hashim Raza Zaidi, Health Secretary Aftab Ahmed Khatri, EPI project director, deputy commissioners of south, central, west and others were also present during the meeting at the Chief Minister’s House.

Ms Bhutto-Zardari went to each family and expressed her sympathies for the victim polio workers.

She said the government had provided financial assistance to legal heirs of the ‘Shaheed workers’. She assured them that the government would continue to look after the affected families and the wounded persons.

On the occasion, she also received some applications from them and assured them that suitable jobs would be provided to family members of the deceased polio workers.

Later, the chief minister apprised her of certain issues related to the vaccination activities and assured her that the Sindh government and its all institutions would continue to cooperate with all stakeholders in the fight against the dreaded virus.She said while the polio eradication campaign in Baldia Town’s union councils 1, 2 and 3 would be completed between Jan 11 and 13, there was a need to reach every nook and corner of the province to eradicate polio.