RAWALPINDI: Around 5,600 parents have reportedly refused polio vaccination for their children during the ongoing five-day anti-polio drive which started in the district on April 22.
Punjab Anti-Polio Emergency Centre Coordinator Salman Ghani told APP that in the wake of the Peshawar incident, parents of around 13,000 children refused to administer polio drops to their children in Punjab and the number of refusal cases was highest in Rawalpindi as 5,600 parents have expressed reservations about the vaccine, in Attock the number was 500 and in Lahore 600.
He further told that after convincing their parents by the polio workers the number of refusal cases decreases to 8,000 out of the total 13,000.
He said that a comprehensive strategy had been formed to end doubts and convince parents to administer polio drops to their children, adding that authorities are persistently trying to approach and convince parents who did not allow health workers to administer polio drops to their children.
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi District Health Authority CEO Dr Muhammad Rashid Khan said that special attention was being given to polio refusal cases and every child would be administered drops up to five years of age till the conclusion of the campaign on April 26.
“Through collective efforts, we can eradicate polio from the country,” he said, adding that polio was a national issue and it was the responsibility of all to play an effective role to make the country polio-free.
