Polio campaign in Punjab will begin from Monday

Lahore : Polio campaign in Punjab as part of National Immunization Day will begin from Monday. The three-day campaign will be held from January 17 to 19. The campaign will target 18.7 million under-5children. “Punjab has had one polio case so far in the year. Although we are doing a good job but persistent circulation of virus in Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi and DG Khan indicates that we have to improve our efforts,”

Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir said. Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Punjab said the department has constituted over 44 thousand teams in the province which include 37845 mobile teams, 4439 fixed teams and 2370 transit teams.

Pakistan recorded 20 polio cases in 2016 with 8 in Sindh, 8 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2 in FATA and 2 in Balochistan. Punjab has had no case in 2016. In 2017, Pakistan has reported just two cases and unfortunately one is from Punjab. Globally, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries still having polio cases. Punjab is focusing on Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore because of recent positive environmental samples.

Punjab’s Emergency Operation Coordinator Dr. Munir Ahmed said recent environmental samples have been a cause of concern indicating the presence virus in the environment.

Dr. Munir Ahmed said: “There were positive samples in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and DG Khan in Punjab.” Dr. Munir also said, “We are trying to reach out to mobile and migrant population coming from polio affected areas.

In case of teams not reaching any area, parents may contact helpline 0800 99000.”