South Waziristan polio immunisation campaign put off

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Due to a military operation and curfew in South Waziristan, the polio campaign which will begin in the tribal belt on April 23 has been delayed in the war-torn agency. According to Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, the provincial focal person (technical) for polio, the immunisation campaign will be launched in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata according to schedule. He said that 4.93 million children in the province and 1.02 million in the tribal belt will be administered polio drops. “Other than oral vaccine, Vitamin A capsules will also be given to children over six months of age.” Shah was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day national immunisation campaign that began at the Khyber Institute of Child Health in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area on Friday. He said that 16,608 teams had been deployed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. “Rs39 million have been allocated for the campaign in the province and Rs15 million for the tribal belt.” Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar, who also addressed the ceremony, said that it is disappointing that people refuse to take polio seriously and do not understand the consequences of not vaccinating their children for it. Urging parents to ensure that their kids are administered the oral polio vaccine, the governor reminded them of the age-old proverb ‘prevention is better than cure’.