A Week-Long Polio Campaign Commenced Across 16 Districts
by Hamna Bano
SHARES
On Monday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah launched a week-long anti-polio campaign in 16 districts of the province. He administered polio drops to children in a ceremony conducted at the Chief Minister’s house by the Emergency Operations Center (eco) for polio eradication.
The 16 districts at risk include all seven districts of Karachi Division, Sukkur Division (Sukkur and Ghotki), Hyderabad Division (Hyderabad full and Jamshoro partial), And Larkana Division (all five divisions).
The drive intended to vaccinate more than 5.6 million children under the age of five years. The health minister told the Chief Minister that more than 40,000 polio workers and around 2270 security staff were deployed.
On this occasion, while speaking, the CM of Pakistan said “Pakistan was one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan. Pakistan has reported 20 cases of polio since April 2022; all cases belong to southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while positive environmental samples have also been reported from all provinces.”
Murad Ali Shah appreciated this achievement for the province that no polio case has been reported over the last 33 months.
“The last polio case was reported on July 14, 2020, from Jacobabad,” he said. “If we continue with the same momentum, we will further see significant results, but we must not get complacent and continue the hard work, " he added.
It has been insisted again and again in the past and even now that chances should not be taken on Children’s health. Doctors at the best hospitals in Pakistan i.e. Mid City Hospital and Hameed Latif Hospital insist that every child under the age of 5 years must be given polio drops and finger-marked during the polio campaign.
Don’t take any chances when it comes to your child’s health❗
Make sure your little one, aged 5️⃣ and below, gets vaccinated & finger-marked during the ongoing polio campaign, targeting over 17.4 million children in 30 districts. Together, we can #endpolio & ensure #HealthForAll pic.twitter.com/MWHSYBCS0n
— Pak Fights Polio (@PakFightsPolio) March 13, 2023
The event was attended by the Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Chief Secretary Sohail Raput, Health Secretary Zulfiqar Shah, Aziz Memon, Coordinator EOCPE Fayaz Abbasi, Qasim Soomro, Parliamentary Secretary on Health, and Commissioner Iqbal Memon.
