ISLAMABAD, Jan 10 (DNA): A five-day national polio immunisation drive
will start from tomorrow (Monday) to vaccinate over 40 million children
under the age of five across Pakistan.

A supplementary dose of Vitamin A drops will also be administered to
children aged 6 to 59 months during this campaign to help build general
immunity among susceptible children to protect them from polio and other
diseases.

Around 285,000 polio frontline workers will visit parents and caregivers
at their doorstep, adhering to strict COVID-19 precautionary measures
and protocols while vaccinating children.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services,
Regulations and Coordination, Dr. Faisal Sultan in a statement, said the
Government is committed to achieve the goal of a polio-free Pakistan
which requires full support of the nation, especially from communities,
the parents and caregivers of children.

Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along
with its neighbour Afghanistan.

In Punjab, forty eight thousand polio teams have been formed, who will
be provided proper security cover during the campaign.

According to a spokesman of the Punjab Health Department, more than
twenty million children will be vaccinated throughout the province
during the campaign.

He said polio workers have been properly trained to follow Corona
related SOPs, conveyed by the World Health Organization.

In Sindh, nine million children under the age of five years will be
administered polio drops across the province.

According to the Emergency Operation Center for Polio – Sindh, Vitamin A
drops will also be administered to the childern during the campaign.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over twenty-nine throusand teams have been
constituted which will ensure administering anti-polio vaccine to each
and every child.

According to Emergency Operation Center, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than
seven million children up-to five years of age will be administered
anti-polio drops during the campaign.

Polio teams will also be available at bus stops, railway stations,
Afghan refugees camps and public places for administering anti polio
drops.

Tight security measures have been taken for security of polio teams.

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