(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) vaccinators go door-to-door every on sunday across peshawar district to administer drops to children for various diseases
Pakistani health teams will on sunday launch a drive to vaccinate some 750000 children in the troubled northwest with thousands of police guarding against attacks by militants who claim the polio campaign is a front for spying.
The campaign in peshawar district which covers peshawar city and dozens of towns and villages is the ninth phase of a push to eradicate polio in pakistan which along with nigeria and afghanistan are the only countries where the disease remains endemic.
The world health organisation (who) has warned that peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio.
“at least 750000 children will be administered the vaccine in peshawar district where 335000 houses have been identified for the purpose” campaign organiser yunus zaheer told on saturday.
The campaign which started early february will continue until the end of april. vaccinators go door-to-door every on sunday across peshawar district to administer drops to children for various diseases including polio tuberculosis tetanus pneumonia whooping cough measles and hepatitis. zaheer said more than 6200 teams comprising 12500 workers have been set up to administer the vaccines adding 6700 police officials would be deployed on security duty during the campaign.
He said the campaign is likely to be extended to other districts of khyber pakhtunkhwa province later. a senior local administration official zaheerul islam also confirmed the details of the campaign. according to the who pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year up from 58 in 2012. pakistan’s failure to defeat polio stands in stark contrast to its neighbour india which recently celebrated the eradication of the disease three years after its last case.
Some 56 people including health workers and police officials providing security have been killed in militant attacks on polio vaccination teams in pakistan since december 2012.
Militant groups such as the pakistani taleban oppose the immunisation drive saying it is a cover for us spying. violence and the threat of it have badly hampered the campaign to stamp out polio in pakistan. khyber pakhtunkhwa recorded 10 polio cases last year compared to 27 in 2012 that indicated success towards eradication of the virus.
The areas in the province where children were missed during immunisation drive were also known.
The children remained inaccessible in federally administered tribal areas in 2013 that as the largest contributor to nationwide polio tally with 59 cases.
The conflict zone in fata had recorded 20 polio cases in 2012.
About 17 workers including policemen vaccinators and volunteers had been killed in polio-related incidents since december 2012 in the province.
Officials said punjab and sindh which recorded seven cases each in 2013 were also advised to speed up vaccination efforts.
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