Anti-polio drive starts in Karachi, Hyderabad

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The anti-polio campaign has begun in Karachi on Tuesday and will continue till May 27.

Commissioner Karachi Asif Haider Shah initiated the drive after inoculating polio drops to children in Sindh Government Hospital Korangi No.5.

Over 6220 teams will participate in the campaign to provide polio vaccine to more than 2.2 million children. Rangers and police will be deployed for the security of volunteers.

The postponed polio campaign in Hyderabad has been re-launched and will continue till May 26. The campaign will administer polio drops to as many as 3,10,599 children.

1964 polio teams have been arranged for the purpose who will visit houses, hospitals, dispensaries and railway stations to vaccinate the minors.

An attack on an anti-polio team in Karachi in April martyred seven policemen resultantly, a drive, ongoing in Multan was deferred for almost seven days.

However, the number of polio cases has declined in the recent years in Pakistan. The year 2015 witnessed 54 cases in the country which was an 80 percent fall from the earlier figures.

The reach of polio teams to remote areas in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of the country was supported by successful Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

At least 98 percent of children were vaccinated against the crippling virus in FATA in March which was a big leap for health authorities compared with previous years when teams could not reach different areas owing to threats and insurgency.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries left in the world that are struggling with the eradication of polio.