Balochistan: anti-polio drive to begin in 16 districts
Health Desk :
A five-day anti-polio drive would commence in 16 districts of Balochistan from Monday (tomorrow). During the campaign, over 1.6 million children under the age of five years would be provided polio drops.
Rashid Razzaq, the head of the Emergency Operation Cell (EOC) said 7,192 teams were established to make sure provision of anti-polio drops to children under the age of five years. “Poliovirus exists in our environment and children without vaccination are vulnerable”, Mr. Razzaq stated. He urged the parents to provide polio drops to children under the age of five years.
The districts include Pishin, Quetta, Killa Abdullah, Naseerabad, Dera Bugti, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Loralai, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Killa Saifullah, Dukki, Musakhail, Mastung, Sherani, Zhob, and Sohbat Pur.
Security tightened across Balochistan
Balochistan government has taken strict security measures to provide protection to polio volunteers across the province. Terrorists in the past have attacked polio teams in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan.
Balochistan has so far reported one polio case from district Killa Abdullah. This is the only case reported during the current year across Pakistan. Sources in the health department said the virus still exists in the Quetta block that includes Pishin, Chaman, and Killa Abdullah districts.
The government has already imposed an emergency across the province to battle the crippling virus. The health department, UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO) have put their heads together to eradicate the crippling virus from the province.
Committees formed to convince parents
This time, the government has also formed committees comprising teachers, religious scholars, and political leaders to convince to the parents refusing polio drops for their children. In Balochistan, the officials revealed to this daily a few days back that the number of chronic refusals stands at 13,000. However, the independent sources put the figure much higher than what is being quoted by the officials. Out of these refusals, 12,000 refusals were reported from the Quetta block.
