Daily Times

The nationwide anti-polio campaign resumed on Monday amid an uptick in the coronavirus cases with an aim to inoculate more than 40 million children under the age of five.

Special Assistant to the PM on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan said that while the pandemic poses a challenge for the anti-polio drive, authorities are committed to ensuring continuity of essential public health services during these difficult times. “Covid-19 continues to challenge us, but…it is an absolute must that all our eligible children stay protected against vaccine preventable diseases including polio,” he added.

During the five-day campaign, around 285,000 frontline workers, respecting Covid-19 safety protocols, will go door-to-door in all 156 districts across Pakistan to give polio drops, a statement by the health ministry’s Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme (PPEP) said on Monday.

Frontline workers and programme staff have been diligently trained to adhere to Covid-19 precautionary measures, keeping communities and themselves safe from the virus, the PPEP added.

The polio eradication campaign will continue between March 29 and April 2. Under the national polio immunisation drive, the health workers will go from door to door for administering oral polio vaccine (OPV) to children in high-risk areas of the virus and the last two days are fixed for catch-up campaigns.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar made the announcement for the commencement of the anti-polio vaccination drive to administer polio drops to 20 million children in 36 districts, whereas 120,000 health workers will participate in the campaign.