[ad_1]
National Polio Vaccination Campaign to Begin January 21
ISLAMABAD: The first national polio immunization campaign in 2019 begins in Pakistan on 21 January.
During this campaign, 260,000 front-line workers will go door-to-door in all provinces and all cities to ensure that more than 39 million children under five receive two drops of vaccine which will protect them from the polio virus.
In 2018, 12 cases of wild polio virus have been reported in the country, including three from Dukki district in Balochistan, one from Charsadda, one from Lakki Marwat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one from Gadap, Karachi, one from Khyber and five cases of the Bajaur tribal group. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district.
This indicates an overall reduction of 97% in the annual number of polio cases from the 306 reported in 2014. Despite this important advance, the cunning polio virus has been able to find a way to survive.
During the month of December, samples of wastewater collected in Karachi, Peshawar, Bannu, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Killa Abdullah, Pishin and Quetta were tested positive for the polio virus.
Genetic badysis reports from the National Institute of Health's Poliovirus Virology Laboratory confirmed that the virus could follow the road from the current hot spots in the country and Afghanistan, posing a risk to underprivileged children. immunized residing elsewhere.
Babar Bin Atta, the Prime Minister's Chief of Polio Eradication, said: "The government is firmly committed to overcoming polio transmission in the country through optimal use of this low season of polio. transmission."
He said: "I miss the words to praise the efforts of polio workers and hope they will do their best during this year's first campaign to fight this threat, once and for all.
Under the umbrella of the National Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the entire polio eradication program team in Pakistan will strive to defeat the virus through of this high quality vaccination campaign at the national level.
Given its importance, the national WCC deployed 50 experts to facilitate the ground preparation and implementation of immunization campaign activities by local teams in priority areas.
The campaign in Pakistan is synchronized with Afghanistan to ensure the immunization of all children on the move. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has reviewed Pakistan's progress and made recommendations for further improvements during the recent technical review.
The TAG recommended that the priority of the program be to focus fully on children still missed from the central reservoir of the polio virus by continually improving operations and empowering front-line workers to reach and protect all children missed with the polio virus. vital vaccine against polio. .
"We will continue our momentum and we will work to fill the gaps in order to defeat the polio virus. it is very important that parents commit to protecting their children against the virus through repeated vaccinations whenever our polio specialists devote drops during these campaigns, "said Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, coordinator National Center for Emergency Operations, Polio Eradication in Pakistan. Initiative.
"This is a good opportunity to slow down the circulation of the virus and to develop enough immunity for children to fight polio virus attacks," said Dr. Rana.
[ad_2]
Source link
