“Elimination of the polio virus is a top priority of the PPP government,” said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah here on Monday.
Reiterating his commitment to protecting children against the crippling disease on the eve of Sindh’s first anti-polio campaign for the current year on Monday, he said that a strong monitoring mechanism has been evolved for the campaign.
Murad Ali Shah said that it was a matter of serious concern for him that Sindh is among the provinces in the country that reported polio cases last year.
“There was a decline in the number of cases, but every step must be taken to achieve zero polio prevalence during the current year,” he said.
The chief minister, taking exception to reported refusals in certain localities of the metropolis, said that it was the responsibility of the district administration to ensure 100 percent coverage of the 2.2 million children belonging to 188 union councils in Karachi.
Approximately 8.4 million children up to the age of five years are planned to be administered the vaccine during the during the three-day exercise.
According to Sindh Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator Fayaz Jatoi, around 5,000 police personnel have been deployed to provide security cover to over 12,000 polio vaccinators.
19 polio cases were reported in the country in 2016 – eight each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two in FATA, and one in Balochistan.