More than 1.8 million children are to be immunised in a three-day anti-polio drive in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including 48 camps of IDPs and Afghan refugees.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Emergency Operation Center (EOC) Coordinator Akbar Khan said, “5,730 teams of well-trained polio workers have been formed who are supervised by 1,248 area in-charges to carry out an effective anti-polio vaccination.”
He said that KP government under the direct supervision of Health Secretary Muhammad Abid Majeed is fully committed to eliminating the menace of polio from the province and despite several challenges; a considerable decline has been noticed in polio cases in KP.
He added that it is not our target to curtail the number of cases, but the target was a complete elimination of polio from the province. He maintained that the three-day campaign started on July 25, 2016, whereas eight districts including Peshawar, Bannu, DI Khan, Tank, Karak, Kohat, Hangu, Lakki Marwat were the targeted areas. During the campaign, 48 camps of IDPs, camps of Afghan refugees, and all the union councils will be accessed to immunise more than 1.8 million children.
He said that out of 5,730 teams, 4,900 are mobile teams, 434 fixed teams, 318 transit teams, and 78 roaming teams. Giving district-wise detail, Akbar Khan said that 1,275 teams are formed under 362 area in-charges in Peshawar, who are immunising 6,21,000 children. In DI Khan, 1100 teams, under the supervision of 223 area in-charges will immunise 2, 76,000 children. In district Bannu, 147 area in-charges will supervise 648 teams to administer polio drops to 1, 93,000 children. Similarly, in Kohat, 137 area in-charges are supervising 626 teams to immunise 1, 95,000 children.
In district Lakki Marwat, 131 area in-charges are deputed to supervise 701 teams to immunize 1, 31,000 children. In district Hango, 390 teams formed under 88 area in-charges will immunise 1, 10,000 children. In district Tank, a total of 118 teams are performing under 19 area in-charges to immunise 8,466 children.