K & P

Drives in Mohmand, Bajaur meet over 95% target

Three-day campaign conducted amid tight security

Our Correspondent September 17, 2015

Three-day campaign conducted amid tight security. PHOTO: AFP

SHABQADAR:

A three-day polio drive concluded peacefully in various parts of the tribal belt on Wednesday. The targets set for the campaign have been broadly achieved in Mohmand and Bajaur agencies where a number of children below the age of five were administered polio drops.

Following this campaign, a catch-up drive and a seven-day campaign aimed at targeting children, who were missed, will be held in various parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Down with the virus

Mohmand Agency’s coordinator for the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Dr Shabbir told The Express Tribune, the target was to inoculate 92,500 children.

“During the three-day campaign, we were able to achieve 97% of this target,” he said.

According to the coordinator, a large number of political administration, health and education officials participated in the campaign.

“Many volunteers also took part in the drive,” he said. “Security forces took a series of steps to ensure the safety
of polio teams.”

In Bajaur

Bajaur Agency Surgeon Dr Zakir Hussain told The Express Tribune they had planned to vaccinate 222,000 children in the agency during the campaign.

“We have managed to vaccinate 96% of these children,” he said. “We will also organise a day-long follow-up drive and a seven-day campaign to catch those children who were missed.”

According to Hussain, various political administration officials, tribal elders, peace committee volunteers and security forces threw their weight behind the drive.

“Polio teams did not face resistance and were not targeted in the region,” he said. “Security was increased in light of recent attacks on tribal elders in Bajaur. As a result, we were even able to immunise children in remote areas. The polio campaign in Bajaur has been termed one of the most successful ones in the tribal belt.”

EPI plans to inoculate 5,422,970 children in K-P. It has set up 17,135 polio teams and recruited 3,496 supervisors to achieve this target.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2015.