By Kalsoom Zahra
We all know and accept the fact that the most important and most noteworthy thing for a human being in this world is his health. Islam also teaches us that all the gifts of Allah are trustworthy for man. Also, Islamic teaching is that protection of trust is an essential requirement of faith and Islam. Health is also one of these blessings. Thus, the protection of health and the struggle to protect health from dangers are among the political and basic responsibilities of the believer. Therefore, protecting health is our first duty because life is the world.
People across the country are facing many diseases, one of which is polio.
Polio is a contagious disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis and death.
In the early 20th century, polio was one of the deadliest diseases in the industrialized world, paralyzing millions of children each year.
It is highly contagious, and can have debilitating effects. Although it can strike anyone, at any age, the disease mainly affects children under the age of five. But there is a safe and effective vaccine available, so the strategy for eradicating polio is to prevent the infection by vaccinating the child until the transmission stops.
Polio is a major problem for all developing countries.
While polio is a major global problem, in view of the rising number of polio cases in Pakistan, an anti-polio campaign was launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar in which more than 323 million children were vaccinated against polio.
The campaign was launched on July 30 in 18 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The polio campaign was launched in August in 50 districts of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. Many polio workers took part in the campaign.
A polio vaccination campaign was conducted in Faisalabad (48 Ucs) and Jhang (18 Ucs) from August 21 to September 1 in which 200,724 and 100,345 children aged 4 to 59 months were vaccinated respectively.
This was followed by a nationwide campaign in September in which 41,460,238 children under the age of five were provided with polio vaccine and vitamin A supplements.
The September campaign was conducted from September 17 to 21 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan from September 20 to 24 and in South Waziristan from September 27 to 30.
The National Immunization Day campaign was launched from October 26 to November 1 in 128 districts across Pakistan under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar. The polio campaign was launched on the occasion of World Polio Day.
The program for polio eradication in Pakistan provides vaccines to more than 40 million children through more than 285,000 frontline workers during each national immunization day campaign and targets specific high risk areas. These require special attention along with local immunizations in areas where polio circulation needs to be disrupted.
The end of 2018 saw a resurgence of cases and an increase in the spread of polio in Pakistan, highlighting the fragility of the achievements made in the last three years. In addition, the COVID-19 epidemic posed new challenges that required rapid and sustained adjustment of the polio campaign program to ensure the safety of frontline workers and the community.
The number of reported cases in Pakistan during the last two years has been reduced from 147 in 2019 to 84 in 2020.
Cases continued to decline in 2021, and finally in November 2021, Punjab was declared a polio-free province.
Punjab has been made the first polio free province in the world under the leadership of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Bazdar.
Punjab has become the first polio-free province after all the environmental samples collected from different cities, including the provincial capital Lahore, turned negative.
However, not a single case of polio has been reported in Punjab this year.
The Punjab Chief Minister had reiterated to the people on World Polio Day that polio-free Pakistan is one of his important missions and one of the priorities of the government.
Pakistan is their first priority.
The Punjab Chief Minister has fulfilled his promise and made Punjab polio free thanks to his sincere efforts.Usman Bazdar while paying tribute to the anti-polio teams of health department said that they are our heroes and front line workers. And these are the positive results of teamwork that have come to light.
Usman Bazdar is so committed to public health services that he has personally overseen the anti-polio campaign. He has also appealed to parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated against polio. The polio vaccination campaign will be continued.
The Punjab government under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar has achieved significant success.
All necessary steps were taken to make Punjab polio free. A clean and safe environment for children has always been a top priority for the government.
