LAHORE – An anti-polio campaign will start in 39 districts across Pakistan, including eight sensitive districts of Punjab, from Monday, a month after health authorities detected wild poliovirus in environmental samples of Lahore.
The National Emergency Operations Center, in a statement, said more than six million children below the age five will be vaccinated in the districts. The health authorities have set a target of vaccinating more than 2.8 million children in eight districts of Punjab during the drive.
Last month, the first sample of poliovirus in 2023 has been detected in an environmental sample in the country’s second-largest city Lahore. Minister for National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel confirmed the sample detection found in an environmental sample in Lahore, a city of over 11 million people.
The last case of polio in the Punjab capital was reported around 2.5 years back however, the virus has been detected in its sewage water.
“The polio drive will be held from February 13 to 17 in full in nine districts, including the seven endemic districts of Bannu, DI Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, Upper South Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan, in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two districts of Punjab – Lahore and Faisalabad,” the NEOC said in a statement.
“Partial campaigns will be conducted in 30 districts during which children will be vaccinated in select union councils of Sheikhupura, 57 UCs bordering Afghanistan, 58 UCs with Afghan refugee camps and 107 UCs of Multan with high-risk mobile populations,” it said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel has urged to ensure that their children are vaccinated against polio infection in this and every campaign to protect them from the crippling disease.
Pakistan’s first sample of poliovirus in 2023 detected in Lahore
