An anti-polio campaign will be carried out in seven high-risk districts of Punjab as part of Sub-National Immunisation Day (SNID) from October 7 to October 9, Punjab Health Services Director General (DG) Dr Zahid Pervaiz announced on Tuesday.
“Though we did not have a single polio case since December 2014, Punjab faces a challenge of viral transmission from reservoir areas of other provinces through inter-provincial movement of migrant population,” said the DG.
The campaign will be conducted in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
Punjab is still completing the 14-day catch up activity of September’s National Immunisation Day and in a bid to boost polio eradication efforts, the SNID will be conducted in the said districts of the province.
Punjab’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation Director Dr Munir Ahmed said, “Over the past six months, we have had a few positive environmental samples in Lahore and Multan. Campaigns in selected union councils were already conducted in these districts. In our bid to ensure that the province remains polio free, seven districts featuring high on various risk factors have been selected for the campaign.”
