CS-KP appeals to people to extend their cooperation to government in eradication polio from KP
PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health and finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra has said that over 7.2 million children under five will be administered polio vaccines during the two-phase-campaign launched on Monday (today) all across the province.
Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash inaugurated the anti-polio campaign by administering polio drops to the children.
“The anti-polio campaign will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will continue from August 15 to August 22,” he added.
According to details, in the first phase, polio drops would be administered to children under the age of five in districts including Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, DI Khan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
In the second phase, the campaign will be conducted in the remaining districts of the province from August 22 to August 26.
During the campaign, more than 72 lakh children under the age of five will be given polio drops.
Taimur Saleem Jhagra admitted that there were gaps in the previous anti-polio campaigns and as a result cases of the virus emerged in North Waziristan and Lakki Marwat districts.
CS-KP Dr Shehzad Bangash appealed to the people of the province that “vaccines are safe, give your children polio drops.”
He also claimed that the provincial government has taken strong steps to achieve the zero-polio goal through its robust and effective anti-polio campaigns all across the province.
The provincial health minister directed all the relevant officials to monitor the performance of the teams constituted to administer polio drops.
Coordinator of Emergency Operation Center Asif Rahim while briefing the health minister informed that around 27.423 polio teams have been constituted for the two layer campaigns across the province.
The minister on the occasion said that action would be taken for showing negligence in administering polio drops in areas identified as hot spots, adding that officials concerned would conduct surprise visits to review the ongoing campaign and would also ensure that the mobile teams of the health department had covered all the areas.
Mr Shehzad Bangash fake fingerprints which have created gaps in achieving desired targets must be discouraged during the campaigns.
It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial government has deployed police and army personnel to provide cover to polio teams in the province.
