PESHAWAR: The first National Immunization Drive against polio planned to be launched in two phases in the KP province with the first phase starting from January 2, 2023, in Bannu and DI Khan divisions wherein 1.08 million children below 5 years would be administered polio vaccine and Vitamin A supplements.
The decision was reached during a meeting held at Emergency Operations Center Khyber (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Additional Secretary Health (Polio Eradication) / Coordinator EOC, Asif Rahim in the chair.
Deputy Coordinator EOC, Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, Acting Team Lead UNICEF KP, Dr Tufail, Acting Team Lead WHO KP, Dr Sarfaraz Afridi, Technical Focal Person EOC KP Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, Team Lead N-STOP Dr Hafizullah and relevant officials of health department were also present on the occasion.
The chair was briefed that the January round of the anti-polio campaign will be conducted in two phases in the province with the first phase starting from January 2, 2023, in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, DI Khan, Tank and South Waziristan (Upper & Lower) while in the rest of the 29 districts of the province, the campaign will start from January 16.
The total target of the first phase stands at 1,082,369 for which a total of 5,782 teams have been constituted, out of which 5,216 are mobile teams, 279 are fixed and 287 are transit/roaming teams while 1,409 Area Incharges and 312 Union Council Polio Eradication Committees (UPEC) Chairmen have been deployed.
Likewise, in the remaining 29 districts, 6,254,718 eligible children would be vaccinated against polio for which a total of 21,892 teams have been formed including 19,240 mobile teams, 1,629 fixed teams, and 1,023 transit/ roaming teams while 5,132 Area Incharges and 1,443 Union Council Polio Eradication Committees (UPEC) Chairmen will be deployed for campaign monitoring.
The meeting was informed that training of the teams has been completed while all necessary security arrangements have been made to ensure the safety of the teams as more than 42,000 law enforcement agencies personnel would be deployed at various plugging points and with teams in the campaign.
Speaking on the occasion, Asif Rahim emphasized that the anti-polio campaign required collective and coordinated actions at all levels to contain the virus and wipe it out from the region. “Our aim is to ensure timely and repeated vaccination of all eligible children in every campaign.”
He said that southern parts of the province are the prime focus of the programme and a special strategy titled “Ring Strategy” has been chalked out by the provincial government with the support of partners to eliminate the virus from south KP while protecting the rest of the region from the virus transmission.
“I particularly urge all parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated instead of refusing to take the necessary drops during all vaccination drives and extend all support to the vaccination teams”, he stated.
He said that it is important to realize that the polio virus still exists in our surroundings and no child is safe until all children are vaccinated, adding that repeated polio vaccination campaigns are imperative for building immunity among children and preventing possible death or lifelong paralysis.
The provincial manager of the programme said that the “Sehat Tahhafuz” Helpline 1166 and 24/7 WhatsApp Helpline 0346-777-65-46 are available to assist parents and caregivers in reporting missed children.
