Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department in collaboration with Emergency Operations Centre has decided to conduct Inactivated Polio Vaccination (IPV) campaign in central and southern districts of the province in a phase manner with a view to give a final blow to the disease and cross the finishing line by 2017.

The first phase of the upcoming IPV campaign has been planned in Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda and Swabi from February 6 that will continue till February 13, next year.

Talking to media persons here on Sunday, the Coordinator EOC, Akbar Khan, informed that eight days IPV campaign would start from February 6 and would continue till February 13 next while the second phase would be conducted in March in the southern districts of the province.

Akbar Khan said that IPV was being introduced and being used alongside OPV in order to boost the immunity of children most-at-risk against the polio virus adding that it was an effort to stop polio transmission in Pakistan.

He said that the IPV campaign was not door to door vaccination like routine OPV campaigns when teams visit house to house and vaccinate children.

As many as 3238 skilled persons would vaccinate children at 403 health and 2802 outreach centres, he said, adding that 3238 team assistants while 6416 community mobilisers would assist in vaccinating all children below 24 months of age.

He informed that the total target of the first phase of the IPV campaign was 555456 children aged between 4 to 23 months out of which 75970 children would be immunised in Nowshera, 78594 in Swabi, 79394 in Charsadda, 119704 in Mardan and 201794 in Peshawar.

Akbar Khan said that during the IPV campaign oral polio vaccine would also be administered to children up to 23 months.

A total of 509708 children would be given OPV in the upcoming IPV campaign in five districts of the province, he added.

He informed that when IPV is given to a child it develops immunity in the blood and protects the individual child.

However, he hastened to add that while the IPV protects the child, he or she can still pass the virus to other children.

Therefore, he continued that IPV together with the OPV is the best combination to boost immunity in the gut adding that not only are individual children better protected from polio virus, but also it means that they are less infectious towards other children and the community is better protected against polio.

Akbar Khan said that children would continue to receive OPV despite IPV as it was the only way virus circulation could be stopped adding that extra doses of OPV would only strengthen the child’s immunity against polio.

He said that IPV and OPV were completely safe and very effective and it was in the best interests of the child toreceive both polio vaccines, and all vaccinations and health services.

It is pertinent to mention here that on 26th May 2012, World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a resolution calling for the finalisation of a comprehensive polio endgame strategy.

In response, the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018 was developed in consultation with polio-infected countries, stakeholders, donors, vaccine manufacturers, partners and advisory bodies.