PESHAWAR - Around 5.6 million children will be vaccinated in the province as three-day anti-polio drive gets under way in all districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from today (Monday).
This was stated by Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Coordinator Akbar Khan on Sunday in a high-level meeting. Representatives from the UNICEF, EPI, WHO, BMGF and other concerned departments were present on the occasion.
The meeting was told that due to concerted efforts of the government departments and partner organisations significance decrease has been witnessed in the province.
“Provincial capital Peshawar is polio-free since last February while efforts were on to stop virus transmission in the high risk areas of the province,” he added.
Khan informed the meeting that a comprehensive plan was made to ensure polio eradication in 2017, adding that OPV and IPV campaigns have been part of the plan.
According to the EOC data, 5.647 million children under five years of age will be administered polio drops in the province including 77 camps of Afghan refugees and displaced persons.
The campaign will start from February 27 in 1,032 union councils, for which 17,767 teams of trained health workers have been constituted. Out of these 15,092 are mobile teams, 1,592 fixed teams, 924 transit teams, while 159 are roaming teams.
EOC Coordinator reiterated that polio vaccine was safe and polio was eradicated from the globe through the same vaccine. He appreciated the positive and constructive role played by media and other segments of society in anti-polio efforts, saying that strong support has resulted in successes against polio.