ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Focal Person on Polio Eradication programme Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq the recent polio campaign will cover around 36.8 million children below 5 years of age across the country.
Talking to PTV World News, Ayesha Raza has called for decisive campaign to eradicate polio virus from the country adding said that determined focus to administer polio drops for every missed child was critical to ensure that the virus did not survive and spread.
Ayesha was confident that major progress will be achieved in fighting polio during the current year.
She said polio campaign in Karachi was inaugurated by Commissioner Karachi Asif Haider Shah. Atleast 2.2 million children will be inoculated polio drops in 188 Union Councils of six districts for which more than 6000 volunteers are taking part in the security of Rangers and police.
“Parents should themselves contact the helpline to make the campaign successful”, she added.
She said polio is a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours.
She said in Punjab, the three-day drive aims to vaccinate 100,80,000 children in 3550 UCs with the help of polio teams who would go door to door to protect children from the crippling disease.
To a question she said that the campaign in Quetta will target a population of 3,58,915 through 800 teams and will be protected by police and Balochistan Constabulary whereas Frontier Corps (FC) will remain stand by.
She appealed to the parents to get their children vaccinated saying action has been taken against those schools which did not cooperated in the previous campaign.
Pakistan’s polio cases are declining, with just 54 cases of polio virus reported last year, down more than 80 percent from 2014, when the country suffered a large spike in cases.
