Peshawar: Thousands of children between the age group of four to 24 months were on Monday administered polio drops in tribal northwest Pakistan after this year's first anti-polio campaign was cancelled last week following an attack on a health worker.
As many as 17,034 children have been vaccinated with Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) in the six-day campaign in Frontier Region Bannu bordering North Waziristan Agency while 50,234 children have been administered oral polio drops to protect them from the crippling childhood disease.
According to the official data, shared by Emergency Operation Center (EOC) FATA, 98 per cent of the total IPV target in FR Bannu have been achieved as 17,034 children have been vaccinated against the target population of 17,393 while the coverage of OPV remained at 92 per cent.
Communication & Reporting Officer EOC FATA said that a total of 49 teams have been constituted for the campaign, out of which 39 were outreach teams, 6 fixed and 4 mobile teams. IPV, injectable vaccination, is a new introduction proposed by the technical experts to safeguard children from permanent disability as it helps in boosting immunity level of children against the polio virus.
However, the experts clarified that IPV may protect a child from disability but cannot eradicate the virus and the only way to eradicate it was OPV. IPV campaigns are also proposed for Peshawar and other cities and would be initiated later this year, an health official of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province said.
Dr Saeed Anwar of Peshawar Medical College said that the project was a joint venture of Agha Khan Medical University and Peshawar Medical College that was launched on trial basis in some parts of Karachi, Bajaur agency and Kashmor. The project was funded by Bill & Malinda Gates foundation.
The year 2014 has been the toughest year for Pakistan's anti-polio programme as the number of confirmed cases reached 297, the highest in the country since 1999. During the past six months, Pakistan recorded the highest number of polio cases followed by Afghanistan and Nigeria. Pakistan has come under severe international criticism for doing little to eradicate the virus which is a threat to the world.
Security is the main reason for the spread of polio virus as vaccination cannot be organised in tribal areas controlled by the Taliban. Over 60 polio workers or police guarding them have been killed in the country in the last two years. This year's first anti-polio campaign was cancelled last week after a health worker was attacked during an anti-polio campaign meeting in the KP province.
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