During the campaign, 45 million children under the age of five will receive the polio vaccine
ISLAMABAD:
A week-long anti-polio campaign will begin on Monday (today) across the country, Radio Pakistan reported.
During the campaign, 45 million children under the age of five will receive the polio vaccine.
Health workers will go door to door in urban and remote areas to administer polio vaccine and vitamin A supplements to children.
First Lady Bibi Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has called on families and communities across Pakistan to fully cooperate with the national polio vaccination campaign which begins tomorrow to ensure that every child is protected against the disease.
In a statement, she highlighted the progress of previous campaigns and said 31 polio cases were reported last year, while only one case has been recorded this year so far.
Aseefa, however, said the threat of disease remains and stressed the need for repeated vaccinations during each campaign and routine vaccination.
She further said that current efforts are being carried out in coordination with Afghanistan to curb cross-border transmission.
The First Lady also appreciated the frontline workers and called for collective efforts to achieve a polio-free Pakistan, emphasizing that no child should be left behind.
The week-long campaign will vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five across the country. Health workers will go door to door in urban and remote areas for this purpose and will also administer vitamin A supplements to children.
In February, as reports emerged of around a million children being missed during the year’s first national polio campaign, Karachi stood out among the cities with the highest number of missed cases.
A total of 53,000 refusals were reported across the country, including 58 percent in Karachi alone, during the vaccination drive, which ended on February 5 in most cities but continued until February 8 in Sindh.
