Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday launched July 2012 anti-polio campaign and vowed to eradicate the crippling disease from the country.
The prime minister kicked off the three-day drive from July 16-18 by administering anti-polio vaccine to six children at the Civil Dispensary, Shung. He was accompanied by Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Special Assistant to PM on Polio Eradication Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali and Pakistan Baitul Maal Chairman Zamurd Khan.
The July 2012 anti-polio drive will target over 34 million children across the country, with particular focus on 5.12 million minors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Ashraf said he was personally monitoring the implementation of augmented emergency response action to control polio.
He said the federal government had recently released an amount of Rs 35.15 million for strengthening union councils’ polio eradication committees at the rate of Rs 10,000 per union council for each campaign. He said 16,795 teams would administer oral anti-polio drops to children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ashraf said the government was aware of reported cases of polio in some parts of the country, adding that special steps had been taken to vaccinate the children in FATA.
