Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : Like rest of the country, 05 days integrated nation-wide anti-polio drive also began in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
Our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports from Mirpur that AJK State Health Services Department has set the target of immunizing a total of 710125 children of under 5 years of age across the AJK State with the Polio vaccine and vitamin ‘A’ drops in all 10 districts.
The AJK State Health Department sources told APP here on Monday here that only in AJK’s capital district6 of Muzaffarabad, over 1.20 children up to five years of would be administered the Polio vaccines and vitamin ‘A’ drops during the drive, to be continued till May 27 without any pause.
At least 3859 mobile teams of para medical staff have been constituted to visit door to door to administer the polio vaccine and vitamin ‘A’ drops during the campaign across AJK – where a total of 432 fixed centers at local govt. hospitals and subordinate health facilities, have a been set up by the State Polio Eradication Committee of the AJK State Health Services Department with the coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The total staff to be involved in the AJK-wide national drive include mobile teams comprising over 5000 workers for visiting door to door to immunize the children of and under 5 years of age with the polio vaccine and vitamin ‘A’ drops during the campaign, the sources underlined.
The fixed centers have been set up at the state-run hospitals, basic health units, rural health centers as well as various other spots to vaccinate the children with the anti-polio drops, the sources eleaborated.
A total of 156 transit points have also been set up for conducting the drive drive under the supervision of the concerned area in charges, the sources said.
The state health department’s Polio Eradication Committee have made adequate arrangement to executive the polio-eradication campaign in a befitting manner, the sources asserted adding that a total of 844 area in charge will supervise the drive at union council’s level across AJK in 35 tehsils and besides a total of 245 Union Council throughout AJK State.
A central polio control room has been se up in the office of the Provincial Program Manager EPI in AJK State’s capital town of Muzaffarabad to monitor the drive besides to receive any complaint by official phone No. 05822-920791.
The Provincial Program Manager EPI AJK Dr. Abdul Sittar Khan has advised the parents to fully cooperate the mobile teams by getting their children administered with the polio-vaccine besides the vitamin ‘A’ drops by the mobile paramedical staff teams.
It may be added that the state health authorities claimed that there had been no any case of polio disease to any child detected in any part of Azad Jammu & Kashmir during over last 22 years.
