QUETTA-
A seven-day polio vaccination campaign was initiated amid tight security in Quetta after a gap of more than five weeks, private media reported.
According to the details provided by District Health Officer (DHO) Quetta Dr. Sher Ahmed Satakzai, the vaccine will be administered to 700,000 children in Quetta.
To wipe out the paralysing disease, Balochistan government has imposed a health emergency in Quetta and other high-risk districts of the province.
Teams comprising health department officials and volunteers were formed to make sure polio drops were administered to children below the age of five years in all parts of Quetta.
To ensure the effectiveness of the campaign, the city of Quetta was divided in different zones.
Pakistan’s first case of polio virus for the year 2015 was reported from Changai district of Balochistan where the virus was diagnosed in an eighteen-month-old child.
During the year 2014, a total of 23 polio cases were reported from Balochistan. Most of the cases were reported from Balochistan’s Killa Abdullah, Pishin and Quetta districts.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is widespread, with Afghanistan and Nigeria following the list of polio-hit countries.
Governmental efforts are of no avail as the immunisation teams are attacked by extremists. There are also long running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.
On the other side, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared that Pakistan is responsible for nearly 80 percent of polio cases reported globally.
To prevent the possible spread of polio virus from Pakistan to other countries, WHO imposed strict travel restrictions on the country.
Anti-polio campaigns in Balochistan were suspended after deadly attack on vaccinators in November last year which had claimed the lives of four workers.
Later in December, the Balochistan government completely suspended its anti-polio campaign in the province in the aftermath of attacks on polio workers in Karachi and Peshawar.
