Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Around 5.6 million children will be vaccinated in the province as the three-days Anti-Polio drive gets under way in all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday (today).

This was stated by the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Coordinator, Akbar Khan, here on Sunday at a high level meeting. Representatives from UNICEF, EPI, WHO, BMGF and other concerned departments were present on the occasion.

The meeting was told that due to the concerted efforts of the government departments and partner organizations a significant decrease had been witnessed in the province.

“The provincial capital of Peshawar is Polio free since February last while efforts are on to stop the virus transmission in the high risk areas of the province,” he added.

Akbar Khan informed the meeting that a comprehensive plan was made to ensure Polio eradication in 2017, adding that OPV and IPV campaigns were part of the plan.

According to the Emergency Operation Centre 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 TDPs.

The campaign will start from February 27 in 1032 union councils, for which 17767 total teams of trained health workers had been constituted out of which 15092 mobile teams, 1592 fixed teams, 924 transit teams, while 159 were roaming teams.

The Coordinator Emergency Operation Centre reiterated that the Polio vaccine was safe and Polio was eradicated from the globe through the same vaccine.

He appreciated the positive and constructive role played by the media and other segments of the society in Anti-Polio efforts, saying that the strong support had resulted in successes against Polio.