PESHAWAR/UPPER DIR, May 31: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar on Thursday stressed the need for involvement of schoolchildren for better public awareness of vaccination, saying it could help eradicate polio from the country.

He also said prevalence of polio had become a stigma for the country, which was one of a few places in the world only where the virus exists.

The governor was addressing the launching ceremony of the three-day sub-national immunisation campaign for polio eradication in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) at Pak-Turk International School here on Thursday.

He said polio virus was a threat to the healthy existence of the coming generations.

“With miserably low literacy rate, especially among female population of which only three per cent are literate in Fata, we are set to struggle hard to get our land free from polio,” an official press release quoted the governor as saying.

He said the basic aim of the polio eradication initiative was to ensure vaccination of 100 per cent Fata children.

Mr Kausar asked the Fata health services department to involve schoolchildren for promoting public awareness of harmful effects of the disease and importance of vaccination.

He said the Republic of Turkey had successfully eradicated polio by promoting education.

On the occasion, Fata secretary (social sector) Aftab Akbar Durrani explained the campaign’s salient features and said the government had involved students to work as ambassadors for the successful execution of the campaign.

Also in the day, inter-provincial coordination minister Malik Azmat Khan said though polio was curable, unfortunately, Pakistan continued to fight it.

He said only joint efforts on part of government and civil society could completely eliminate polio.

The minister was speaking at the launching ceremony of the anti-polio drive here at the Peshawar Press club.

He appreciated WHO and Unicef for extending support against polio in Pakistan, especially in the militancy-hit tribal areas, where it was difficult to motivate parents due to the taboos attached with polio vaccines.

“Anti-polio campaigns come under my ministry and I take personal interest in it. I myself check out reports of every completed campaign in all provinces and issue necessary instructions in case of missed targets,” he said.

Mr Kausar asked students, female schoolteachers, clerics and civil society members to highlight importance of immunisation.

Speaking on the occasion, Extended Programme of Immunisation director Dr Jehanbaz Afridi said the two special SNID campaigns would be conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from June 4 to 6 in nine districts, while another would be carried out from June 11 to 13 in two selected districts i.e. Buner and Kohat, where children below age five would be administered anti-polio drops.

He warned that if polio was not eliminated, the international community might stop Pakistani nationals from going abroad and thus, adversely affecting national economy.

Mr Afridi said a state of emergency should be declared against polio to fight it out at the earliest.

In Upper Dir, immunisation refusal cases have been overcome in the district as the health teams covered 99 per cent of the targeted children during the last anti-polio drive.

This was stated by EPI coordinator Dr Nazar Mohammad during a news conference organised by National Research Development Foundation (NRDF) here.

Dr Nazar said inclusion of more than 200 Levies personnel and teachers led to end to immunisation refusal cases.