Over 2.451 million children would be administered anti-polio drops during a three-day campaign commencing from December 19 against the crippling poliomyelitis virus that remains chronic to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This was stated by N-Stop provincial leader Dr Aftab while briefing the media regarding the synchronization of efforts underway to fight the virus. He said that the campaign would cover 30 districts of the province to ensure that the province did not become either a polio chronic zone or a carrier of it to other regions of the world.
Referring to the history of the virus, he said that amongst the prominent cases US president Franklin D Roosevelt was worth mentioning who caught the virus at the age of 39, adding that due to introduction of immunity the virus did not affect the elders anymore but they could be carriers of it.
He said that in 1998, there were 0.5 million cases worldwide that reduced to mere 35 in 2016, adding that among countries where the diseases remained chronic included Pakistan and Afghanistan, Nigeria declared itself polio-free two years ago, but 4 new cases emerged this year in the country. He said that Balochistan has gained successes in containing the virus effectively and the cases which numbered 6 in 2015 were reduced to mere 1 in 2016.
He was of the view that the cases mostly occurred in the bordering towns that connected Balochistan either with Afghanistan or with other provinces of the country and these towns were the focal point in the campaign.
He said that as many as 50,000 children were vaccinated during the past one month only at Friendship Gate, Chaman, and if the figures of the Afghanistan teams are included in cross-border vaccinations, they rose to 100,000 children being administered immunization drops.
He said that the movement across the border ranged to 35,000 daily, adding that environmental samples have been collected from 7 points in the provincial capital alone, which was included in Quetta bloc that comprised three districts: Quetta, Pishin and Killa Abdullah.
Speaking on the occasion, provincial coordinator Dr Atta-ur-Rehman said that they have been working to convince the Ulema and have clinched astounding success in this regard, adding that as many as 200 Ulema were working in Quetta bloc alone to defeat the virus. He said that it was no more than a disaster that 47,000 children perished each year before they could reach the age of 5 year of curable diseases, adding that this reflected the numbness of our society towards the plight of children. He said that the refusals in Pakistan were 70,000 out of which 30,000 were covered in 2014.
Maulana Anwar-ul-Haq Haqqani, speaking on the occasion, said that he had personally met with local Ulema at their seminaries, including Syed Abdul Sattar Shah, and have convinced them of the efficacy of the vaccination.
