PESHAWAR: As many as 5.620 million children will be vaccinated in the upcoming anti-polio campaign which starts on September 18 across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This was disclosed in a high-level meeting held at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.
The meeting was held to review the readiness of the upcoming anti-polio campaign.
Coordinator EOC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akbar Khan chaired the meeting which was attended by Deputy Director EPI Dr Akram Shah, Technical Focal Person BMGF Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, UNICEF and WHO representatives.
Khan was informed that it is the first campaign of the low transmission season. The measures taken by the government in the fight against polio and the remaining challenges were also highlighted in the meeting.
The attendees of the meeting were also apprised that the total target of the upcoming anti-polio drive is 5620783 for which 20388 teams have been constituted out of which 17688 will be mobile teams, 1545 fixed teams, 919 will be transit while 236 would be roaming teams.
Moreover, the meeting was told that total strength of area in-charges for the campaign is 4622 while more than 30000 security personnel will be deployed on daily basis to provide security cover to the teams in the province.
Speaking on the occasion, Akbar Khan said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has remained polio free for more than a year now which is the result of concerted efforts by the Sehat Muhafiz (vaccinators) under the guidance and ownership of government and technical partners.
The EOC Coordinator hoped that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will continue to retain the polio free status and stressed that serious efforts should be made collectively to meet the remaining challenges.
Regarding low transmission season, Akbar Khan said that it is a great opportunity for the province to capitalize on the achievements already made in polio eradication and to sustain those achievements through hard work and determination.
Earlier, Akbar Khan was briefed on the ‘Young Sehat Muhafiz” intervention which will be launched simultaneously with the campaign to help build positive relationship between community and Sehat Muhafiz (vaccinators).
A joint intervention by Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, UNICEF and Directorate of Elementary & Secondary Education Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “Young Sehat Muhafiz” intervention include Sehat Muhafiz games, Info- Fairs and health classes.
The main objective of the intervention is to engage schoolchildren in promoting the concept of vaccinators and health workers and bringing the required positive behavioral change in the community.
