Pakistan on Sunday launched its first anti-polio marketing campaign of the yr, concentrating on 44.2 million youngsters beneath the age of 5.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the one two nations on the planet the place polio continues to threaten the well being and well-being of kids. Polio impacts the nervous system of kids and in the end results in paralysis.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif kicked off the nationwide drive by administering polio drops to youngsters within the capital, Islamabad, saying Pakistan was sadly among the many few nations that also suffered from the illness.
Twenty circumstances have been reported within the tribal North Waziristan space final yr, although the illness was contained amongst different youngsters by immunization, Sharif stated.
Around 44 million youngsters in 156 districts will probably be immunized.
This consists of 22.54 million youngsters in Punjab, 10.1 million in Sindh and seven.4 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Sharif stated his authorities together with different stakeholders, together with U.S. billionaire Bill Gates and the World Health Organization, have been successfully contributing to polio eradication in Pakistan.
He gave away appreciation certificates on the launch to frontline polio staff and praised their “invaluable sacrifices”.
Pakistan has witnessed frequent assaults on polio groups and policemen deployed to guard them. Militants falsely declare that vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize youngsters.
