www.thenews.com
A three days anti polio drive was formally kicked off in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on Saturday.
The launching ceremony of the national immunization drive was held here at Press Club as chief guest Senator Farhat Abbas administered polio drops to the children and formally kicked off anti polio drive in the province.
Other participants of the events were Deputy Director EPI Dr Jan Baz Afridi, Health and Nutrition Specialist Dr Jamil, Media Officer UNICEF Shadab Younas, President PPC Saiful Islam Saifi, AD EPI Qazi Afsar, and Dr. Rahim.
Senator Farhat Abbas has expressed the hope that polio would be eradicated in the country by 2013 with the support of all segments of society. Polio has been eradicated in most countries of the world, which was indeed a matter of concern for us, she added.
Innocent people were being duped by false propaganda against the vaccine, which has dire consequences for the children.
She hoped that the EPI staff would further improve their performance and reach out to all children up to the age of five to ensure 100 percent coverage.
She held out an appeal to parents to vaccinate their children against polio and protect their children from permanent disability.
Moreover, she urged upon media persons to support the national cause and play its constructive role in raising awareness among the masses about polio that could be protected merely by administering
two drops to their children.
Deputy Director EPI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr Jan Baz Afridi said that three days anti-polio drive would start from March 12 in 17 districts of the province and Afghan refugees' camps. A total of 10799 teams have been formed for the campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa out of which 9191 were mobile teams, 986 fixed teams and 619 were transit teams.
As many as 2047 area in-charges have been hired to ensure vaccination to 3.7 million children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.
It was informed on the occasion that four new polio cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2012 one each in Peshawar, D.I.Khan, Kohat and Lakki Marwat.
Dr Jan Baz said that India has wiped out polio in 2011 with the same vaccine leaving three countries including Pakistan in the list of endemic countries.
He said that the people of Pakistan were talented and has great potential to rise in the comity of the world. However, he hastened
on to add that unfortunately we are left behind in the race against
polio.
"Lets pledge that we would join our hands against polio and eradicate the menace from our borders", he appealed.
Health and Nutrition Specialist UNICEF Dr. Jamil thanked Department of Health and administration of Peshawar Press Club for inviting
the UNICEF representatives to share their views on the topic. He said
that we have to give voice to the children by raising awareness among
the masses about their rights.
All segments of society would have to fight collectively for the rights of children and mothers as they were marginalized members of the society, he added.
He said that polio cases were dropped from thousands to hundreds due to the efforts of the government with the support of the partners.
Dr Jamil said that polio was declared emergency and test case for
us adding that India has proved that polio eradication was physically and operationally possible.
President Peshawar Press Club Saiful Islam Saifi that polio eradication was the collective responsibility of all segments of society.
He said that it was the moral and religious duty of the parents to administer polio drops to their children.
He asked media to contribute to the cause even if it has to be partial in the case as it was the matter of children.
No comments:
Post a Comment