Children To Be Given Anti-polio Vaccine In Five Districts

LAHORE, (Muzaffargarh.City – 11th Feb, 2017 ) : Sehat Muhafiz polio teams of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Punjab will go house-to-house to vaccinate over 1.87 million children under five years of age in five districts of Punjab, from Monday.

The campaign will continue till February 18 (Wednesday) and is being held in the wake of persistent positive environmental samples in Multan, Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir said on Saturday.

“The Punjab Emergency Operations Centre has decided to hold campaign in entire district of Multan. While in Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Khanewal and Toba Tek Singh, the campaign will be held in selected union councils,” he said.

“Campaign will be held in 35 UCs of Muzaffargarh, 28 UCs of Lodhran, 88 UCs of Khanewal, and 39 UCs of Toba Tek Singh,” he added. “Though Punjab has had no case for a year, persistent circulation of virus means our children are at risk,” Khawaja Imran said.

Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Punjab Ali Jan Khan urged parents to vaccinate their children during the three-day campaign especially those who are guests. Pakistan has recorded 20 polio cases in 2016 with eight in Sindh, eight in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, two in FATA and two in Balochistan.

Punjab has had no case in 2016 and in 2017 so far. Punjab is focusing on Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore because of persistent positive environmental samples. Punjab’s Emergency Operation Coordinator Dr.

Munir Ahmed said recent environmental samples have been a cause of concern indicating the presence virus in the environment. Dr. Munir Ahmed said: “There were positive samples in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and DG Khan in Punjab.”