ISLAMABAD: A five-day anti-polio campaign targeting over one million children began in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, an official said.
Abdul Basit, coordinator for polio eradication at the Emergency Operations Center of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told the media that drops will be administered to more than one million children aged up to five to eradicate the crippling virus.
Some 5,700 mobile teams sent by the health department will administer anti-polio drops to the children in six districts of the province, the official said, adding the teams will also be deployed to railway stations, bus stops and other public places.
Pakistan is one of the world’s only two countries where polio remains endemic. The country reported just one polio case in 2021, compared to 84 in 2020.
The health experts believe that consistent efforts made by the government have helped in controlling the crippling infectious disease affecting children in the country, and urge further work to sustain the accomplishment in 2021 for completely eradicating polio this year.
