Prime Minister launched the nationwide anti-polio campaign by giving polio vaccine to children in Islamabad, saying Pakistan was one of the few countries that still had the disease.
Pakistan launched its first anti-polio campaign of the year on Sunday, aimed at 44.2 million children under the age of five.
Polio is still a threat to the health and well-being of children in only two countries around the world: Pakistan and Afghanistan. Polio affects children’s nervous systems, eventually leading to paralysis.
The Prime Minister launched the nationwide anti-polio campaign by giving polio vaccine to children in Islamabad, saying Pakistan was one of the few countries that still had the disease.
Last year, twenty cases were reported in the tribal North Waziristan area, but the disease was contained among other children through immunisation, according to the Prime Minister.
Approximately 44 million children will be immunised across 156 districts. This includes 22.54 million children in the provinces of Punjab, 10.1 million in Sindh, and 7.4 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Prime Minister stated that his government, along with other stakeholders such as US billionaire Bill Gates and the World Health Organization, were effectively contributing to Pakistan’s polio eradication. He gave away appreciation certificates at the launch to frontline polio workers and praised their “invaluable sacrifices”.
Attacks on polio teams and police officers assigned to protect them have been common in Pakistan. Militants falsely accuse vaccination campaigns of being a Western plot to sterilise children.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children under the age of five. The virus is spread through contact with the faeces of an infected person or through contaminated water or food.
Most people infected with the virus do not show any symptoms, but some may develop a fever, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and back, and muscle weakness or paralysis.
The polio vaccination campaign is a public health effort to eradicate polio, a highly contagious viral disease that can cause paralysis and death.
The campaign primarily involves administering the polio vaccine to children under the age of five, as they are the most susceptible to the disease. The campaign is typically conducted door-to-door, in schools and health clinics, and through other community-based efforts.