Daily Times

KARACHI: The officials at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) have appealed to parents to cooperate with polio eradication team by providing correct information about the children.

The department asked parents to ignore disinformation spread thorough social media about the anti-polio campaign.

The statement is issued by EOC for polio in Sindh taking notice of the security concerns exploited on social media by some quarters regarding polio workers asking for information regarding children at their homes during anti-polio vaccination.

EOC officials have appealed the parents of under-five years of age not to hider the administrating of the polio drive during the six-day special anti-polio campaign that would begin in all districts of Sindh province from Monday (August 29).

During the campaign, vaccination would be administered in the province including Karachi, Jackoababad, Ghotki, Qambar Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Larkana, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Dadu, Sanghar and Kashmore distcits. Over 6.8 million children up to the age of five years would be administered polio drops out of which 2.2 million belong to Karachi.

In a statement, the coordinator EOC Sindh Fayaz Jatoi appealed to parents to cooperate with the polio teams, which would be coming to their door step to collect information about children under the age of 5.

“This is a necessary activity being led by the health department to help us eradicate polio from Pakistan. Please provide the teams the necessary information,” said coordinator EOC. “Please feel free to ask polio workers for their Identity Cards and they should also have a letter from the Deputy Commissioner of the area,” he added.

Jatoi said anyone producing these documents would be playing their role to safeguard the health of the children of Pakistan.

He also appealed the media for its responsibly in spreading this information and help provided in the national cause of polio eradication.