Pakistan Commences Polio Vaccination Drive 2022
by Naba Batool
SHARES
The national polio campaign will start from Monday all over Pakistan. This national campaign will be a five day affair and two days will be alloted to reach the children that have been missed from the roll call. This news has been confirmed by the newly appointed head of the polio programme and Emergency Operations Center Coordinator Ms Syeda Ramallah Ali.
She further went on to say that “Over 22 million children will be reached for vaccination during the campaign.”
آج ملک بھر میں قومی انسداد پولیو مہم کا آغاز ہو گیا ہے۔ اس مہم کے دوران 4 کڑور سے زائد 5 سال سے کم عمر بچوں کو فرنٹ لائن ورکرز گھر گھر جا کر پولیو سے بچاؤ کے قطرے پلائیں گے۔ آج ہی اپنے بچوں کو پولیو سے بچاؤ کے قطرے پلائیں اور پاکستان کو پولیو سے پاک بنانے میں مدد کریں۔ pic.twitter.com/I4DVE1YXFw
— UNICEF Pakistan (@UNICEF_Pakistan) February 28, 2022
A total of 150,000 polio workers will be an active part of this campaign. This number also includes area in-charges, district and union council supervisors, mobile team, fixed team members and transit members.
“Although Punjab has done exceptionally well to control the virus transmission, reaching and sustaining zero polio cases and transmission requires even greater efforts. Therefore, the programme will continue to focus on implementing high-quality campaigns to reach all children under five years” Ms. Syeda Ramallah.
The Provincial Emergency Operations Center has made sure to deploy experts from all the areas so that the arrangements can be facilitated at a faster pace. The workers have been properly educated regarding COVID-19 SOPs, protocols and the additional measurements. Furthermore, they have been provided with all the necessary PPEs. The government has paid attention to choose only those for the field visits who are vaccinated.
Ms. Syedah Ramallah also stressed the importance of immunization and its effects on the strategic actions of the government to combat Polio. “I want to remind all parents and caregivers that immunization is recognised as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions, saving millions of lives around the world. Please do not harm your own children or anyone else’s by refusing polio drops and risking permanent disability or death for your child or anyone else’s. It has been proven over and over in every country, including Pakistan, that polio vaccines are safe and effective.”
This is a much needed strategy at the moment because Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two polio endemic countries on the entire globe.
