Pakistan has recorded only a single case of polio virus in the first seven months of the present year, stated Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry
According to the details released from a press conference, the minister claimed that it was for the first time after a very long period that Pakistan has reported such a radical decline in polio cases.
The prime minister valued the performance of health officers to control the number of cases.
Read more: Pakistan reports no new cases of polio in first six months of 2021
Pakistan begins three-day polio immunisation campaign
A three-day polio immunisation campaign to vaccinate children under the age of five years will start from Monday in the federal capital.
According to official sources, the third nationwide polio campaign for the year 2021 already kicked off in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on September 17 and on September 20, for the rest of the country.
They added, over 40 million children under five years of age will be vaccinated with the polio vaccine, along with a supplementary dose of Vitamin-A capsule during the nationwide campaign.
More than 290,000 Sehat Tahafuz frontline workers will go house to house for vaccination to protect children from lifelong paralysis caused by the polio virus. Research also shows approximately 50% of all children are vitamin-A deficient in Pakistan, so a supplementary dose of Vitamin A will be included providing protection against various infections and diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles, and night blindness.
“The programme has made significant gains with not a single case being reported for seven months, giving us a unique opportunity to achieve polio eradication. Now is the time to re-double our efforts and ensure we reach every eligible child with the polio vaccine to solidify this progress. Parents should open their door to frontline workers and vaccinate their children to make way for a polio-free Pakistan,” said Dr. Faisal Sultan, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health.
