LAHORE – An anti-polio campaign will kickoff in selected high-risk districts of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Monday.
A spokesman of Punjab Health Department said the campaign will be carried out in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Faisalabad, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur Districts.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Sukkur division Manzoor Ali Shaikh chairing a Divisional Task Force for anti-polio meeting stressed for proper monitoring and security of polio teams at transit and entry points.
According to Provincial Health Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about four point five million children up to five years of age will be administered anti-polio drops.
Polio teams will also be available at railway stations, bus stands, Afghan camps and other public places to ensure administering anti-polio drops to each and every child.
Special security measures have been taken for sthe ecurity of polio teams.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, that suffers from endemic polio, a virus that can cause paralysis or death.
The country continues to battle polio for the past several years and is close to completely eradicating the disease. The number of cases declined from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015, 20 in 2016 and eight in 2017. In 2018, three polio cases have so far been reported – all from Balochistan.
A country must have no cases for three consecutive years in order to be considered to have eradicated polio by the World Health Organisation.
According to the WHO, the number of polio cases worldwide has fallen by more than 99 per cent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases then to 22 reported cases in 2017.
