The personnel of Operational Division of Islamabad Police and Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) with an objective of friendly policing spent a hectic day on city roads by administering anti-polio drops among the children, besides marshalling traffic and ensuring law and order in the city.
Islamabad Police in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF on Monday launched joint project ‘The Signs of Life’ for eradication of polio and Inspector General of Police Sikandar Hayat formally inaugurated it by joining vaccination point at Mc Donald Roundabout near F-10 and administered anti-polio drops among the children below five years.
Speaking on the occasion, the IGP said that Islamabad Police have made efforts to lead the way in introducing the concept of citizen friendly policing and decided to adopt an innovative model of simultaneously creating awareness regarding child immunisation as well as road safety amongst the masses.
Prepared jointly by officials of the WHO, UNICEF and Islamabad Police, this model has created and adopted a set of innovative traffic signals with illustration of a child receiving polio drops alongside using conventional road signs to create awareness amongst the commuters regarding seatbelts, use of mobile phones while driving, importance of helmets for motorcyclists, seatbelts for commuters and observing speed limits while driving.
The IGP paid special thanks to WHO staff, who under the leadership of their chief Dr Elias Durry worked day and night with the Islamabad Police to come up with a unique model helping towards the outfit being perceived as a leader in introducing friendly policing concept in the country. He hoped that this project will help raise the confidence of the citizens in the police but also build the confidence of the policemen. He also thanked Pair Engebak from UNICEF for cooperation in developing special health education and road safety materials for more than 12,000 personnel of the Islamabad Police and ITP. He said policemen will wear ‘Fighting the Polio Battle’ badges as part of their uniforms whereas special vaccination kiosks and stalls will be installed at some of the already existing security check posts in the city.
UNICEF has supported the Islamabad Police to install specially branded 15 stalls and Kiosks whereas this number will reach up to 30 Kiosks and stalls in subsequent polio rounds. Other education materials include specially designed ‘stop signs’ for traffic policemen to check the cars with children, city branding of Islamabad to raise awareness regarding the project and various publicity materials for student’s volunteers. He also thanked young student volunteers from BahriaUniversity who would help the health teams and Islamabad police officials to create awareness on ‘The Signs of Life’ and educate the masses regarding the importance of road safety and child immunisation. He said 15 vaccination points have been placed in close proximity of the already existing security check points of the city. The IGP said that special security arrangements have also being worked out for the polio team members during the upcoming rounds and over 1000 police officers from Commandos, Elite Forces, Traffic Police and Islamabad Police will provide special security to all the polio teams in the city under the direct leadership of Islamabad SSP. He said that exemplary security arrangements for the polio campaign have been divided into different zones based on the security requirement along with WHO and Islamabad Health Administration. He also saluted to the valiant health workers and policemen who sacrificed their lives only to ensure that the upcoming generations of our beloved nation do not have to bear the brunt of a crippled future.
ANTI-POLIO CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF:
Anti-polio campaign kicked off in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Monday. A total 495,000 children will be administered anti-polio drops in the four-day campaign. In rural areas, 120,495 kids would be vaccinated against the crippling disease and 379 teams of Health department officials, including 322 mobile teams, have been constituted for this purpose. Assistant commissioners and magistrates will remain in the field and monitor the progress of the drive.
In Rawalpindi district, the vaccination campaign will be carried out in 76 union councils and around 375,000 children will be administered anti-polio drops.
