ISLAMABAD – A country-wide anti-polio campaign will begin in Pakistan on Monday, the government has announced.
National Coordinator, Pakistan Polio Program Rana Muhammad Safdar said over 38 million children under five years of age will be administered polio drops during the campaign.
They include 19.15 million children in Punjab, 8.7 million in Sindh, 5.7 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.46 million in Balochistan, 1.03 million in FATA, 0.74 million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 0.237 million in Gilgit Baltistan and 0.313 million in Islamabad federal capital territory.
260,000 polio workers, including 191,000 mobile teams, 11,986 transit teams and 10,276 fixed teams will perform their duties during this campaign.
Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar, in a statement on the launching of the anti-polio campaign, has said that the government will not rest till polio is completely eradicated from the country.
She said this year will be the last year for anti-polio campaign in the country, the Radio Pakistan reported.
According to the minister, only eight polio cases were reported last year and none in this year. She added bringing polio cases to the lowest in country`s history is an achievement of the present government.
Tarar appealed to parents to make this polio round a success like previous rounds by cooperating with the polio teams and ensuring that all children are administered the vaccine drops.
