Daily Times

The nationwide polio vaccination campaign launched on December 16 is achieving desired objectives and its success will set the tone for turning the tide against the crippling virus that paralysed 111 children in Pakistan during 2019, said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Saturday.

He shared the progress on the ongoing campaign wherein 265,000 frontline polio workers are going door-to-door to ensure vaccination of 39.52 million children under the age of five. According to the National Emergency Operations Centre, though the data from remote union councils of Balochistan and Kyber Pakhunkhwa is yet to be added, the valiant frontline polio workers have successfully vaccinated almost 39.1 million (99%) of the targeted children across Pakistan in four days of the campaign. The catch up activities to cover the missed children will continue in core reservoirs of Karachi, Peshawar, Khyber, Quetta, Pishin and Killa Abdullah on Sunday as well.

The campaign was inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan in the federal capital and all chief ministers in their respective provinces as a mark of national commitment towards the cause.

“We are mindful of the serious challenges posed by the virus and its implications on health and economy of the country. We decided to take polio eradication forward as a shared priority and with a sense of collective responsibility,” Dr Zafar Mirza said. “A transformation process has accordingly been started that besides de-politicization of the programme, aims at integrating routine immunization, revive one team approach coupled with a stringent accountability, and broadening partnerships to deliver an integrated package of services to the most deprived communities living in super high-risk union councils within the core reservoirs,” he added.

“We are greatly encouraged by the campaign progress so far,” said Dr Rana Safdar, who was reassigned last month to lead the country’s fight against the raging virus assault. “Our engagement with communities and efforts to tackle negative propaganda are bearing fruits as we observe parents responsibly immunizing their children to keep them protected against polio,” he stated.

Pakistan remains one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where poliovirus continues to circulate actively. There is a strong national and international commitment to eradicate the disease. It is a collective responsibility of every Pakistani to ensure all children are protected against the poliovirus. The Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative has also initiated ‘Sehat Tahhafuz Helpline’ to assist the reporting of missed children during the national immunization campaign. The parents and caregivers are encouraged to contact ‘Sehat Tahhafuz Helpline’ at 1166 and register their concerns regarding the missed children.