Polio eradication campaign kicks off nationwide

ISLAMABAD: More than 30 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops during the five-day drive across the country.

In Punjab, the government has a target of vaccinating 22 million children and has deployed more than 150,000 polio workers.

Sindh aims to vaccinate over 10 million children in thirty districts. Seventy-thousand health workers and 10,000 supervisors have participated in the campaign.

Meanwhile, in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, approximately nine million children will be administered polio drops.

More than thirty-thousand teams have been formed to administer anti-polio drops to the children during the door-to-door campaign.

Earlier, Special Assistant to the PM Dr Faisal Sultan said, “Pakistan aims to be polio-free by 2023.”

On his first-ever visit to Pakistan, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, too, expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s “inspiring” efforts for polio eradication.

He appreciated the government’s efforts in a tweet. “I’m encouraged by the country’s commitment to eradication and am optimistic that if everyone remains vigilant, we can end polio.”

Gates added that it has been over a year since wild polio paralyzed a child in Pakistan, presenting an incredible opportunity to stop this disease for good. “I traveled to Pakistan to learn from their polio program leaders.”