Anti-polio campaign targeting over 10.6m children in Sindh begins

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah launched on Monday a major anti-polio campaign targeting over 10.6 million children under the age of five in 1,400 union councils across the province.

The inauguration was held at the KMC Gizri Maternity Home, where the CM and health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho administered oral polio vaccine drops to infants.

According to officials, 80,000 health workers, escorted by 21,000 security personnel, will be carrying out house-to-house visits to vaccinate children during the week-long campaign, running from Oct 13 to 19. In addition, children will also receive Vitamin A supplements to help boost their immunity.

Speaking at the ceremony, the chief minister regretted the detection of 29 polio cases in the country — out of which nine cases have been reported in Sindh this year — and the continued presence of the virus in environmental samples. He also admitted lapses in the campaign.

“Polio elimination is a shared moral responsibility. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children against this debilitating disease must think about the future of their children. We must respect the child’s right to a safe and healthy start,” he said and urged parents to ensure their children receive the life-saving vaccine and contact the nearest health centre if any child is missed.

He assured parents of the vaccine’s safety, recalling that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had administered the oral vaccine drops to her own daughter, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.

“The campaign will be monitored at the union council level. Any refusal to vaccination will be reported to the monitoring cell at the Chief Minister’s House, and efforts will be made to convince parents,” he said, emphasising that the federal and provincial governments were serious on this subject and that the drive’s full monitoring was critical for its success.

CM Murad sought cooperation from all stakeholders, including religious scholars, teachers, civil society and politicians, to play their role in fighting polio.

He also appealed to the media outlets to allocate at least the first 15 seconds in the hourly bulletin for polio awareness. In this regard, he said, letters would be sent to the media outlets for their cooperation.

“Together, we can win this battle. We need to have 100 per cent coverage, ensuring that no child is left out in Sindh. The teams will also vaccinate Afghan children before they return to their home country,” he said during the media talk, regretting that Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only two countries in the world today where polio was still endemic.

The chief minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment towards polio eradication and acknowledged the support of local and international partners.

Officials in attendance included Health Secretary Rehan Baloch, EOC Coordinator Irshad Sodhar, representatives of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, World Health Organisation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International, Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, Secretary for School Education Zahid Abbasi and Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon.