Islamabad :
To make the country polio free, the government has announced a special campaign under which the polio campaign will be conducted in 70 specific districts. The first phase will start on January 17.
According to the Provincial Immunization Program for Children (EPI), it has been decided to launch a special campaign in polio-sensitive districts, dubbed the Sub-National Anti-Polio Campaign, which will be conducted in 70 specific districts. According to EPI sources, full polio campaign will be conducted in 61 districts, partial polio campaign in 9 districts, polio campaign will be conducted exclusively in 8 USCs with Afghan refugee campuses of 5 districts and polio in high risk union councils of 4 districts. The campaign will be held.
According to sources, the sub-national anti-polio campaign will be launched in two phases, the first phase will start from January 17, the polio campaign in six southern districts of KP will run from January 17 to 21, the second phase in 64 districts from 24 to 28. According to EPI sources, the sub-national anti-polio campaign will be for 3 days, there will be catch-up days for 2 days, children who remain in catch-up days will be vaccinated against polio.
It may be recalled that last year only one polio case was reported in the country which came to light in Balochistan. In contrast, in the year 2020, 84 polio cases were reported in the country. Since then, a new anti-polio strategy has been adopted, which has significantly improved the situation.
After the first wave, special attention was given to routine immunization, routine immunization in remote areas in collaboration with the security forces, while the second dose of anti-polio vaccine significantly increased the immunity of children.
