ISLAMABAD: A special polio vaccination campaign continued on Tuesday in core reservoirs of the country to vaccinate over 10.25 million children up to five years of age.

During this special campaign, thousands of frontline workers were visiting door to door to ensure children receive two drops of the vaccine to protect them against the polio-virus.

According to an official of National Emergency Operations Center, during year 2019, so far 23 cases of wild polio-virus have been reported in the country including seven from district Bannu, one from district Hangu, one from D.I.Khan and one from district Shangla in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three cases from Mir Ali, two cases from Miran Shah, one from Khyber and one from Bajaur of tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two from Karachi and one from Larkana in Sindh and three cases from Lahore in Punjab.

He said despite the significant achievements of the program, the cunning polio-virus was still surviving and find a way for its survival, therefore special immunization campaign planned in all the core reservoir to kill the wild polio virus forever.

“Bannu division is declared highly sensitive after reporting of 50% polio cases of the total polio cases in the country, therefore it is utmost important to vaccinate each child under five years in each anti-polio campaign,” said the PM’s Focal Person on Polio Babar Bin Atta, adding “considering the situation Bannu division is the top priority”

He said, “Parents have been requested to avoid fake propaganda against polio vaccine and vaccinate their children to protect them for polio virus”.

The government is committed and striving to hit the virus hard through this special immunization campaign. This is top priority to focus on reaching still missed children in core reservoir through continued improvement of operations and capacitating frontline polio workers to reach and protect every missed child with the vital polio vaccine.

He stressed that parents are committed to protect their children from virus through repeated vaccinations each time drops are offered by our dedicated polio workers during the campaign.

He said polio is a highly infectious disease caused by polio virus mainly affecting children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system, and can cause paralysis or even death.

He added while there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased.

He said that repeated immunizations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio free.

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