Over 669,000 children to be immunized against Polio in high-risk areas

RAWALPINDI (APP): A Week-long anti-polio campaign in high-risk areas of Rawalpindi District will start on August 7 (Monday) in which more than 669,412 children will receive polio drops.
During the drive, 2835 polio teams would visit five towns of the district including Rawalpindi city, Cantonment, tehsil Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan, and Taxila which had been declared high-risk areas, said the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the District Health Authority Dr Ejaz Ahmed while talking to APP.
He said the purpose for launching the special drive was the presence of poliovirus, detected from environmental samples collected from the area of Sarae Kala, Taxila.
The CEO informed that 2835 teams including 674 area in-charges, 269 fixed points, and 189 Union council medical officers would vaccinate polio drops to over 669,412 children under five years of age during the campaign.
He added that drops would also be administered at 147 transit points while teams would be deputed at toll plazas so that no child could miss immunization.
Dr Ejaz said that the Polio sample had tested positive first time in Rawalpindi since September 2022 and the third sample in Punjab this year. “The positive sample in Rawalpindi indicates that the virus was circulating in the region, though no case had been reported so far,” he said.
“If a single case is reported in a region, it remains a threat to children residing in 200 houses in the vicinity,” he added.
He advised parents to come forward and play their role in ensuring the vaccination of their children to eliminate the crippling disease from society.