Polio campaign kicks off in Sindh today

KARACHI: A four-day anti-polio drive kicked off in different districts of Sindh today.

The campaign aims to eradicate polio from the entire province, Secretary Health Dr Usman Chachar told Geo News.

More than 2 million children from Karachi and 6 million from different districts of Sindh would be vaccinated in the four-day campaign.

Four cases from Sindh were reported this year from Karachi, Jacobabad and Shikarpur.

When asked about the security of polio volunteers, Dr Usman Chachar said that planning and security measures have been taken to ensure protection of polio volunteers. Police and Rangers have also been deployed in high-risk areas of Karachi.

More than 3,500 polio workers teams have been deployed to vaccinate children door-to-door, Director Health Karachi Dr Shakoor Abbasi said.

Polio vaccination campaigns kicked off in other provinces as well. An anti-polio drive is underway in five districts of Punjab from August 29 to 31 as part of Sub-National Immunisation Day, according to Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique.

He said that nearly 3.5 million children would be vaccinated in Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Multan, adding that the aim of the campaign is to rid the province of the virus.

A three-day anti-polio drive also started in North Balochistan, according to the province’s Health Department. Strict security measures have been deployed in eight districts for anti-polio teams.

Campaign includes Qila Abdullah, Ziarat, Pishin, Loralai, Musakhel, Qila Saifulla and Sheerani. 600,000 children are to be vaccinated during the drive.