Anti-polio campaign in 15 districts of Balochistan from today
Health Desk :
QUETTA: An anti-polio campaign would begin in 15 districts of Balochistan from today (Monday). Around 1.5 million children under the age of five years would be provided polio drops. “Over 6,000 teams formed to make sure provision of polio drops to children”, Chief of the Emergency Operation Cell (EOC), Hameedullah Nasar said. Balochistan government has adopted strict security arrangements to avoid the occurrence of any untoward incident during the campaign.
A five-day campaign would be launched in the Quetta block, which includes Quetta, Pishin, Chaman, and Killa Abdullah districts. However, the campaign would also be launched in Khuzdar, Lasbella, Mastung, Dukki, Mastung, Sherani, Zhob, Chaghi, Killa Saifullah, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad districts of the province.
Balochistan reported one polio case during 2021
During the campaign, the polio volunteers will be visiting the houses to administer polio drops to children under the age of five years. Balochistan had reported one case of poliovirus from the Killa Abdullah district in January 2021. This was the only case reported across Pakistan. Since April 2021, poliovirus was not found in the environmental samples in Killa Abdullah and other parts of the province.
Refusal main challenge for the government
The government has also formed committees on the district level to convince the parents refusing polio drops to their children. Senior officials, religious scholars, politicians, and members of civil society are part of the committees trying to bring an end to chronic refusals in the province.
The number of refusals in the Quetta block, which comprises Quetta, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, and Chaman is high as compared to other parts of the province. Sources within the health department revealed that the number of refusals is more than 10,000 in the Quetta block.
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