Polio vaccination campaign launched amid tight security
islamabad — A special anti-polio campaign began in different areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Karachi on Monday.
According to the federal government, a total of 23.8 million children under five years of age are to be targeted in the immunisation campaign, including 7.8 million in Punjab, 8.17 million in Sindh, 4.46 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1.98 million in Balochistan, 1.04 million in FATA, and 0.33 million, children in Islamabad.
Aimal Khan, a spokesman with the vaccination campaign has said the drive was launched on May 7 amid tight security.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
The number of cases has declined from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015, 20 in 2016 and eight in 2017.In 2018, only one polio case has so far been reported from Dukki, Balochistan.
Last month, more than 4,000 families refused to administer their children with polio drops during an immunisation drive in Punjab provice.
Health department officials had said that the refusals from five districts of the province stemmed from an anti-vaccine video being propagated on social media.
In February, a fake video regarding deaths caused by the polio vaccine had gone viral and had led to refusal cases in Rawalpindi.
According to the government, five out of eight children paralysed by the poliovirus in 2017 came from families refusing vaccination due to misconceptions.
Security offices have guaranteed their help for the polio groups and will work towards giving a good and safe environment.
The country has been combating polio for as far back as several years and is near totally destroying the devastating illness. — APP