Rawalpindi achieves milestone in polio surveillance

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi district has returned negative results in all environmental samples collected for poliovirus detection, while also clearing all independent monitoring checks conducted after the latest anti-polio campaign, according to the District Health Authority (DHA).

The authority said the recently completed drive met its vaccination goals and showed effective containment of the virus. Environmental surveillance samples taken from Safdarabad, Dhoke Dalal, Taxila and Sarai Kala were tested for the presence of poliovirus, and all of them came back negative.

Officials said the campaign was also assessed through third-party monitoring under Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS), and all 12 tests were passed. According to the DHA, this is the fourth consecutive anti-polio campaign in Rawalpindi to achieve a 100% LQAS pass rate, which officials said independently confirmed that the targeted child population had been effectively reached and virus transmission had been prevented.

Suspected CCHF case ruled out

In a separate development, health officials said a suspected case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) reported during Eidul Azha also tested negative. The DHA said laboratory testing of a 35-year-old woman from Thatta Khalil, Taxila, who had been suspected of contracting the infection, confirmed that she was not carrying the virus.

Mobile healthcare unit deployed in Fauji Colony

The health authority said it has also stepped up medical surveillance and health services in Fauji Colony, a densely populated area home to families from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan. A fully equipped mobile healthcare unit has been stationed there under the Clinic on Wheels programme.

According to the DHA, the unit is staffed with specialist doctors and technical personnel, and has laboratory equipment and essential medicines. It will remain in the locality for several days to provide medical check-ups, laboratory tests, blood screening and free medicines to residents.

District Health Officer (Preventive Services) Dr Hafiz Jawad Ahmed described the anti-polio campaign as exceptionally successful and said future drives would continue to follow the same model of planning and intensive field operations. He added that 35 Clinic on Wheels units are currently operating across Rawalpindi district to expand access to healthcare and treatment for communities in different areas.