First anti-polio campaign of 2024 begins

Lahore: The first anti-polio nation-wide campaign of the year started Monday which will continue for seven days in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad while the campaign will last for five days in other districts.

According to the details, more than 200,000 polio workers are participating in the campaign during which 2.25 million children under 05 years of age will be vaccinated.

In Punjab, during a week-long polio campaign over 23 million children will be administered anti-polio drops. The health department has declared Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan as most sensitive cities in this regard.

In Sindh, nearly 10.03 million children up to the five years of age will be administered anti-polio vaccine during a week-long campaign. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 7.4 million children up to five years of age will be administered anti-polio drops during five-day drive.

More than 700 thousand children in Azad Jammu and Kashmir will be vaccinated during the five-day campaign.

While over 2.5 million children up to five years of age would be administered anti-polio drops during week-long polio drive in Balochistan.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, over 250 thousand children will be vaccinated during five day campaign. In case a polio team does not visit any home, the parents can contact helpline 1166.

The head of anti-polio program, Khizra Fazal, said that Punjab has been free from polio since October 2020.