RAWALPINDI: Two separate functions were held in the garrison city to launch the first anti-polio drive of 2024 to vaccinate more than one million children in Rawalpindi District.

Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha, along with Deputy Commissioner Dr. Hassan Waqar Cheema, inaugurated a week-long anti-polio campaign by administering drops to children.

District Health Authority officials, the Coordinator of the World Health Organisation, and other officials concernedwere also present.

After the inauguration, the commissioner and the deputy commissioner reviewed the arrangements made for the campaign in detail, and a detailed briefing was given by the health department.

Speaking on this occasion, Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha said that this year’s first anti-polio campaign started with a new determination to make Pakistan polio-free.

He said that the campaign is being organised across Punjab starting today. He said that Punjab has been free from polio since October 2020, but the migrant population is a constant risk here.

To eliminate this risk, he said that special vaccination points have been established at entry and exit points. He said that there are 18 union councils that are near the drains and nullahs and 38 high-risk union councils in Rawalpindi.

Special teams have been deployed in high-risk union councils. Efforts should be made to cover refusals and non-attended cases on the same day. He said that parents should act responsibly by cooperating with polio teams. Every citizen should play a proactive role in realising the dream of a polio-free Pakistan, he said.

On this occasion, while giving a brief about the arrangements made for the anti-polio campaign, it was said that the anti-polio campaign will continue from January 8 to January 14. In the anti-polio campaign, the target of vaccinating 1.15 million children under the age of five years is set. For this campaign, 245 Union Council medical officers and 870 area in-charges have been appointed in Rawalpindi district.

In addition, 3675 mobile teams, 330 fixed points, and 163 transit points have been appointed. The total number of teams is 4168, and on the first day of the campaign, the target of 250,000 in Rawalpindi district was set to administer polio immunisation drops.

Meanwhile, a second anti-polio inauguration was held, in which Punjab Caretaker Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare and Population Welfare, Dr. Jamal Nasir, inaugurated the campaign by administering polio vaccine drops to children at Awqaf Plaza.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that we should all fight together against polio and ensure a healthy future for our children. He said that the fight against this dangerous disease can be achieved only through joint efforts, and the current campaign will continue for one week in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Faisalabad, while it will continue for five days in other districts of Punjab. He expressed these views while speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the first anti-polio campaign in 2024.

He said that the first anti-polio campaign of the year has started in all the districts of Punjab, and during the campaign, 22.5 million children will be administered polio drops in Punjab. He said that one million children will be given the polio vaccine in Rawalpindi and that parents must give the polio vaccine to every child under five years of age.

Dr. Jamal Nasir said that no case of polio has been reported in Punjab since 2020. Thanks to continuous efforts, polio has been eradicated from the whole world except for two countries, and in those two countries, polio still exists today, and these countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that polio workers are our valuable asset, and despite the severe cold, polio workers are rendering services in remote areas.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024