KARACHI: The Chief Secretary Sindh on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Polio Eradication and discussed matters related to upcoming weeklong anti-polio drive to be started from February 26, 2024.
The meeting was informed that over 10 million children across the province will be immunised, for which 80,000 polio workers will perform their duties to accomplish the task.
The CS was informed that thousands of polio workers in the 30 districts will be part of this vaccination drive.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Secretary Health Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Additional IG Karachi Khadim Rind, Coordinator Emergency Operations Center Sindh Irshad Ali Sodhar, and other relevant officials, all district commissioners and deputy commissioners also participated in the meeting via video link.
The meeting reviewed the overall situation of the polio virus and its containment efforts. Coordinator Emergency Operations Center Sindh, Irshad Ali Sodhar, informed
the meeting that the training of workers for the polio campaign has been completed, and in addition to polio drops, children will also receive extra vitamin A supplementation during the campaign.
During the meeting, Chief Secretary Sindh, Dr. Muhammad Fakhre Alam, emphasized the need to launch the anti-polio campaign effectively in the current high-risk union councils to achieve desired results. He instructed all deputy commissioners to closely monitor the polio campaign and ensure that their respective officers submit daily reports.
Chief Secretary also directed the Health Department to ensure that children are administered polio drops at all railway stations and bus terminals. He also instructed education department officials to ensure that polio drops are administered to children in both private and government schools during the campaign.
It is worth noting that in the upcoming polio campaign starting on 26th February, more than 10.6 million children will be administered polio drops, with over 80,000 po
lio workers and supervisors participating.
During the meeting, Chief Secretary Sindh also announced government assistance for the late polio worker, Zahida Panhwar, who died in a road accident during duty in Naushahro Feroz.