DC inaugurates March round of anti-polio drive

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Islam Zeb on Monday inaugurate anti-polio drive here at Fauji Foundation Hospital by administering anti-polio vaccine to children.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner said that the district administration was fully alive to its responsibility about immunization of children and was making every effort to ensure successful campaigns by providing safe and secure environment to the teams on ground and by addressing other field related issues.

Islam Zeb said that he chair evening meetings on daily basis at District Polio Control Room (DPCR) during which matters related to campaign were taken up with the concerned departments so that the issues were resolved in time.

It is due to effective planning and implementation by the district administration and Emergency Operations Center Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that no polio case has been reported from Peshawar for the last two years, which was declared as the major hub and reservoir of the virus.

He said that we proudly celebrate two years of polio free status yet it does not mean that we should rest on our laurels as virus is still circulating in the environment and any lapse can land us back in the problem.

Therefore, he continued that the district administration was very much focused on polio eradication and will not rest till the menace was wiped out of the country for good.

Earlier, he formally inaugurated the three days anti-polio campaign in the district by administrating drops to the children. Senior management of the Fauji Foundation Hospital was also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the three days March campaign kicks started on Monday in 17 high risk districts of the province wherein 4.43 m children will be immunized against polio.

It is relevant to mention here that one polio case has been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last year from the Lakki Marwat district while the rest of the province remained polio free.