ISLAMABAD: A three-day anti-polio campaign will begin in the country from today (Monday Feb15) to administer polio drops to millions of children up to five years of age. According to official sources, thousands of teams have been formed for the drive against the crippling disease that the officials hope to eliminate this year. According to a UNICEF health official, there is 85 percent reduction in recorded polio cases in 2015 and with this kind of progress Pakistan can be declared a non-epidemic country for poliovirus this year. The year 2014 was a difficult year for health authorities as Pakistan recorded 305 cases of polio as the campaign met resistance from militants who attacked immunisation teams and polio workers were stopped from administering drops in some areas. An official of Polio Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) FATA told that in 2015, only 16,000 children were missed from polio drops in the country, which is highly commendable when data is compared with figures back in the year 2014. Around 292,000 children from Khyber Agency, North Waziristan and South Waziristan missed immunisation in 2014 due to inaccessibility to these areas. For the health officials, the campaign has remained a challenge, as they have to convince parents who are sometimes reluctant because of their conservative views. The health workers will visit every corner of cities and far-off places in rural areas in an effort to make the campaign successful. A district health official in Rawalpindi district Dr Arshad Ali Sabir told that special attention was focused on ensuring coverage of children during the latest campaign. Special counters would be established at public parks, railway stations, bus and wagon stands, airports and transit points to administer anti-polio drops to children to ensure that no one is left without the vaccine in the campaign this year.