PESHAWAR - A special three-day anti-polio campaign in selected tribal districts and subdivisions will start today (Monday) under the supervision and security provided by commissioners, deputy commissioners, health officials and security agencies.
It will be the first campaign launched after KP-FATA merger which will continue till July 4 in all tribal districts and subdivisions except Orakzai and Kurram.
A total of 837,221 children below the age of 5 years will be vaccinated with oral polio vaccine by 3,771 teams, comprising 3,497 mobile teams, 192 fixed teams and 82 transit teams.
In this connection, coordinator tribal districts and subdivisions Mahmood Aslam Khan said, “We are about to cover the last mile. Polio eradication needs unprecedented zeal and commitment of field workers and broader support from parents and caregivers.”
“Tribal districts and subdivisions are achieving the highest level of performance and incredible progress has been made during the past couple of years but rooting out polio from the region would only be possible with continued efforts of field workers, partners, and administration and security agencies as demonstrated in past years,” he said.
Coordinator Mahmood Aslam Khan advised Emergency Operations Centre Team to focus on vaccinating persistently missed children and especially children on the move.
He emphasised that “high risk mobile population and particularly target mobile population crossing borders should be focused and every child must be immunised.”
There is no confirmed polio case for the last 23 months. Last polio case in the region was reported on July 27, 2016 from District South Waziristan. Not a single confirmed polio case was reported in 2017 and none have been reported in 2018 so far.
In a recently concluded Technical Advisory Group meeting, high-level international experts have highly appreciated the performance of tribal regions and subdivisions, particularly the innovation brought out by Emergency Operations Centre and District Polio Control Room for reaching every child.
