KARACHI, Pakistan: The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali has said that elimination of polio virus from the local environs is the top priority of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led provincial government.
Reiterating his commitment in Karachi on Monday to protect children against the crippling disease on eve of Sindh’s first anti-polio campaign for the current year today, he said a strong monitoring mechanism has been evolved for the campaign.
Syed Murad Ali Shah said it was matter of serious concern for him that Sindh is among the provinces in the country that reported polio cases last year.
Despite the fact that there was certain decline in the number of cases yet this cannot be ignored and every step will be taken to achieve zero polio prevalence during the current year, he said.
The Chief Minister, taking exception to reported refusals in certain localities of the metropolis, said it was the responsibility of the district administration to ensure 100 percent coverage of the 2.2 million children belonging to 188 union councils in Karachi.
Meanwhile an estimated number of 8.4 million children upto the age of five years, are planned to be administered during the during the three days exercise.
According to Sindh Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Fayaz Jatoi around 5,000 police personnel have been deployed to provide security cover to over 12,000 polio vaccinators.
It may be pertinent to mention that 19 polio cases were reported from all over the country including eight each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two in FATA and one in Balochistan.
