Polio-eradication campaign kicks off

LAHORE: In order to respond to positive environmental samples, polio eradication campaign has kicked off in two districts of Punjab and Islamabad from today.

The campaign, titled Outbreak Response (OBR), will be held partially in two districts including Lahore and Rawalpindi. Only 29 union councils of Lahore and four tehsils of Rawalpindi will be part of the campaign which will continue for seven days. Two last days will be dedicated to reaching Not Available children.

More than 7,400 polio workers will participate in the drive to immunize 0.78 million children under the age of five. Punjab Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has deployed stakeholders from all areas to facilitate implementation of the polio campaign in priority areas.

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“Although there is no polio case in Punjab, but Wild Polio Virus has been found to be circulating in environmental samples of mega cities”, said the Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator Khizer Afzaal here. “The campaign will play an important role in preventing polio virus transmission”, added the coordinator. Khizer cautioned that Punjab was at the risk of imported virus circulation but government was active to prevent it.

While in Islamabad more than 96,000 children will be administered polio drops and the campaign will last till Sept 8.

In July and August, Pakistan’s national laboratory confirmed presence of polio viruses in environmental sites of Lahore and Rawalpindi. The viruses were found to be genetically linked to the cluster in Afghanistan. In response to the detections, Punjab recently wrapped up a campaign in Attock, Rawalpindi and Mianwali. Nearly two million children were vaccinated in the campaign.