Punjab Set To Immunize Over 9 M Children Against Polio From March 16

MULTAN, (Muzaffargarh.City – 13th Mar, 2020 ) :A five-day sub national polio immunization drive (SNID) is set to begin from Monday, March 16, in 15 districts of province, Punjab Polio programme incharge Sundas Irshad said in a statement on Friday. “Due to recent polio cases we are making sure that affected districts, as well as all adjoining districts are covered for immunization in the upcoming SNID round. We want to make sure children of affected districts are immunized against polio, and further spread of polio virus is interrupted”, informed Ms Sundas. The districts where polio eradication campaign will be held include: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Mianwali, DG Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Faisalabad, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Okara, Sahiwal and Sheikhupura. Polio virus circulation is detected in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, DG khan and Rajanpur districts of Punjab, which puts our children at risk for polio virus. “we will continue our efforts until polio is eradicated,” she elaborated. The provincial Emergency Operations Centre for polio eradication has constituted over 20,509 teams who will go door-to- door and will be deployed at major hospitals and crossing points to vaccinate over nine million children of less than five years of age in the province, she said.

The polio programme incharge further said to facilitate parents a 24-hour polio helpline 1166 has been established. In addition to the helpline, parents may register complaints or ask queries on Whatsapp number 03467776546 and social media accounts using hashtags #PakFightsPolio and @polioeradicationinitiative. Ahead of the campaign Sundas assured parents that polio vaccine is safe, effective and approved by the government’s drug regulatory authorities. She emphasized the need for all children to be immunized during every round of immunization campaign. Punjab polio programme chief said to eradicate polio they need to carry the same momentum they saw in the February NID 2020. In 2019, 12 children were parlaysed due to the polio in Punjab from Jelhum, DG Khan, Muzaffargarh, Okara and Lahore. In 2020 Punjab has so far reported only one case of polio from district DG Khan, whereas 29 polio cases have been reported in the country so far. Globally, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two remaining polio endemic countries in the world.