KARACHI: A six-day anti-polio campaign will be launched in Karachi on Wednesday, December 20. Under the drive, 1.85 million children below five years of age will be vaccinated with anti-poliovirus drops.
About 3,500 frontline workers and supervisors will take part in the campaign, and 4500 police personnel will be providing them security cover. In addition, rangers will also be patrolling the areas where the campaign is taking place.
Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh’s Coordinator Fayaz Jatoi said that the campaign was extremely important as recently there was a polio case that emerged in UC 4 Gadap Town, Karachi.
He said that the situation was getting better but they must keep up the intensity of vaccination to safeguard children and rid Karachi of the poliovirus.
“I appeal to parents to come forward and vaccinate their children, and those who refuse vaccination must stop doing that because refusing to vaccinate will put their children in danger of contracting the virus. Polio has no cure but it can only be prevented by giving two drops of the polio vaccine during every campaign.” he urged.
Speaking about progress in 2017, Jatoi pointed out that two cases of polio were reported this year, as opposed to eight cases in 2016 which showed measurable improvement. He further added that we must keep the focus on Karachi and interrupt virus transmission.
Earlier, the polio campaign was also launched in other areas of Sindh which include Dadu, Ghotki, Jaccobabad, Kambar, Kashmore, Larkana, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Badin, Hyderabad, Kherpur, Matiari, N. Feroz, Sanghar, Sajawal, Thatta, and Jamshoro.