Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Health, Ihtisham Ali and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shahab Ali Shah have jointly kicked off the September round of Sub-National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) by administering polio drops to children and renewed the government’s strong resolve and firm commitment to eradicate the crippling disease of polio from the province.
“Polio eradication is among the top priorities of the government and the entire government machinery from top to bottom including district administration, health department and law enforcement agencies are working in close coordination to ensure the complete eradication of this crippling disease”, said Ihtisham Ali, advisor to chief minister on health, while talking to media here on Thursday at Polio Services Hospital Civil Secretariat on the occasion of polio campaign launch.
Secretary Health also attended the inauguration ceremony, Shahidullah, Additional Secretary Health/EOC Coordinator Shafi Ullah Khan, Deputy Coordinator EOC Latif-ur-Rahman, Director EPI, Provincial Team Lead UNICEF, Dr. Inuwa Yao, Team Lead N Stop, Dr Imran, Technical Focal Person EOC, Dr Ali, Team Lead WHO, Dr Maiwand Ayoub as well as other relevant officials.
Ihtisham Ali said that polio eradication is possible only when all children under five are vaccinated with polio vaccines; therefore, we are conducting regular vaccination campaigns to ensure that all children up to the age of five years are vaccinated throughout the province during every anti-polio campaign.
He stressed on all segments of society particularly religious scholars, medical experts, civil society and media to extend their full support and cooperation to the government in this national cause of polio eradication.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said that the provincial government is undertaking all possible initiatives for eradicating polio, adding that special action plans have been put in place to ensure vaccination every under five child in the campaign. Shahab Ali Shah said that the government is also focusing on strengthening routine immunization to ensure a healthier future for our future generation. The chief secretary stressed upon different segments of society including the media to play their role in creating awareness among the people about the significance of polio vaccination.
The four-day drive will be conducted in selected districts of the province in two phases wherein more than 5.75 million children under the age of five will be administered with polio drops. During the first phase commencing from September 1, the campaign will be conducted in 16 complete districts including Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Swat, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan Lower, Kohistan Upper, Kolai Palas, Mardan, Mohmand, Peshawar, Khyber, Kohat and Kurram and three partial districts including Charsadda, Nowshera and Swabi. During the second phase, commencing from September 15, the campaign will be carried out in District Bajaur as well as in all seven districts of Bannu and D.I Khan divisions.
Emergency Operations Centre Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has finalised all arrangements for the smooth execution of this vaccination campaign. For the successful implementation of this campaign, 27,356 teams of trained polio workers including 24,881 mobile teams, 1,418 fixed teams, 942 transit teams and 115 roaming teams have been formed to administer polio drops to the children. Besides, 6,455 area in-charges have also been appointed for the vigilant supervision of these teams to make sure that all children in the target areas are administered with polio vaccines. In order to ensure foolproof security of the polio teams during this campaign, approximately 40,000 security personnel have been deployed in the target areas.
