Hyderabad: Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Zain-ul-Abideen Memon on Friday chaired a meeting of the District Polio Eradication Committee (DPEC) to review preparations for the November 2026 anti-polio campaign and assess the performance of the September’s drive.
The meeting was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner-II Hyderabad Mahvish Buriro, District Health Officer Dr. Pir Ghulam Hussain, representatives of partner organizations and relevant officials.
According to a handout, the meeting focused on ensuring access to polio vaccination for all children under five years of age, effective campaign planning and coordinated efforts among departments to completely eradicate the poliovirus.
Representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and health department officials briefed the meeting about the performance of the previous campaign, field-level gaps, micro-plans, human resources, training, cold-chain arrangements and preparations for the upcoming campaign.
The meeting was informed that the campaign would be conducted from November 2 to 8. It was also shared that the latest environmental samples collected in Hyderabad during September had tested negative for poliovirus.
The deputy commissioner termed the negative environmental samples a positive development and directed the concerned officials to identify and address shortcomings observed during the previous campaign.
He stressed the need to give special attention to refusal cases, children who could not be vaccinated because they were unavailable at home and missed children. He also directed the authorities to take effective measures on a priority basis in union councils with a high number of refusals to ensure that no child was deprived of polio drops.
Speaking on the occasion, DHO Dr. Pir Ghulam Hussain emphasized identifying areas and households with low vaccination coverage and addressing gaps in the training of field teams.
The meeting was informed that 544 children in the district had been reported as refusal cases, while 7,636 children remained unavailable during the previous campaign, therefore, effective measures were being taken to reach them to ensure their vaccination.