Rawalpindi Mobilizes 4,000 Teams for Major Anti-Polio Initiative

News Desk

Rawalpindi: The special anti-polio campaign kicked off in Rawalpindi on Monday, targeting 886,877 children under the age of 5 for vaccination. 

This seven-day initiative follows recent reports of poliovirus presence in the area. Khizer Afzal, head of Punjab’s Polio program, announced that the campaign will span five districts: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Lodhran, and Muzaffargarh, aiming to administer drops to over 4.5 million children. 

Afzal emphasized the campaign’s urgency in response to the detected poliovirus presence, noting the deployment of 32,000 polio workers. In Lahore and Rawalpindi, the campaign will run for seven days, while in the remaining districts, it will last five days.

In Rawalpindi specifically, 4,000 vaccination teams have been mobilized. Dr. Ejaz, CEO of Health, assured that refusal and missed cases would be addressed promptly.

He reported the appointment of 245 Union Council Monitoring Officers (UCMOs) and 870 area in-charges for oversight in Rawalpindi.

Additionally, 3,675 mobile teams, 330 fixed points, and 163 transit points have been set up across the district. Dr Ejaz urged parents to disregard rumors and support polio workers, whom he described as heroes.