RAWALPINDI:Commissioner Rawalpindi Laiquat Ali Chatta on Monday inaugurated the five-day anti-polio drive by administering drops to children under five years of age here at the Holy Family Hospital.
Later addressing an awareness seminar about Polio, he said that the campaign had been launched in 12 districts of the province to protect children through immunization drops.
Chatta informed that the drive had been started in those districts where polio environmental samples had tested positive during the last six months.
On the occasion, he directed the officials concerned to cover refusal and non-attended children on the same day on priority. The Commissioner informed that as many as 10,15,000 children below five years of age would be covered during the drive while the 250,000 was the target set to administer drops to kids on the first day of the drive.
He urged the citizens, particularly the parents, to come forward and play their role in eliminating the crippling disease from society.
Sharing details of the arrangement for the campaign, Chief Executive Officer of District Health Authority Dr Saadat Ali Khan said that 4,199 teams, including 3,680 mobile teams, 866 area in-charges, 245 medical officers were participating in the campaign, with observing COVID-19 health guidelines such as the use of masks and sanitisers.
Dr Saadat said the drive was also being utilized for creating awareness about anti-dengue preventive measures. “320 fixed centers have been set up while children coming from outside were being vaccinated at 199 transit points of the district,” he added.
The campaign which started on Monday will continue till May 21.