RAWALPINDI:A week-long anti-polio campaign will commence in high-risk areas of Rawalpindi District on September 4 to cover more than 741,579 children under five years of age.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the District Health Authority Dr Ejaz Ahmed told reporter that 2,770 teams including 2,430 mobile teams, 568 area incharges, 261 fixed points and 156 Union Council medical officers would visit four towns of the district including Rawalpindi city, Cantonment, Rawalpindi rural and Taxila which had been declared high-risk areas.
He added that drops would also be administered at 109 transit points while teams would be deputed at toll plazas so that no child could miss immunization.
The CEO said the purpose for launching the special drive was the presence of continuous detection of polio-virus from environmental samples collected from the area of Sarae Kala, Taxila and Safdarabad,Rawalpindi.
The positive sample in Rawalpindi indicates that the virus was circulating in the region, though no positive case had been reported so far, he said and added that “If a single case is reported in a region, it remains a threat to children residing in 200 houses in the vicinity./395