The five-day-long anti-polio drive is going to start on January 16th, 2023, by the Health Department of Punjab. This drive will take place in different regions of Punjab, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Taxila, and many more. This is the first anti-polio drive of 2023 in Punjab.
Anti-polio task force meetings are conducted in different regions to discuss the preparations for the upcoming drive.
In Rawalpindi, Saqib Manan, Commissioner Rawalpindi, led an official Anti-Polio Task Force meeting. He directed the deputy commissioners of Punjab to conduct pre-anti-polio meetings with the sole purpose of having a bird’s eye on the ongoing preparations of the drive.
In Taxila, Dr. Hassan Waqar Cheema, Deputy Commissioner Attock, also presided over an anti-polio task force meeting. He briefed the polio workers and reviewed the preparations done by them for the effective implementation of the drive. The representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) also joined this meeting.
In Hafizabad, Touqeer Ilyas Cheema, Deputy Commissioner, scheduled the meeting and requested the nation to play their part in the practical completion of this anti-polio campaign. Dr. Touqeer Ahmad, a representative of the World Health Organization, and Rab Nawaz Chadhar, Assistant Commissioner Hafizabad, also joined in, showing that the preparations for the anti-polio campaign are at their peak.
The health authorities of Punjab aim to vaccinate 22 million plus children up to the age of five. For this purpose, 200,000 polio workers and 84,500 mobile teams will be deployed across Punjab. The anti-polio drive is expected to end by January 20th, 2023.
Here, it is important to note that according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, in 2022, only 20 polio cases were reported in Pakistan. The previous year, Unicef‘s Regional Director for South Asia pledged to eradicate polio from Pakistan by the end of 2023.