By Rafiullah Mandokhail
Zhob, (Parliament Times) : In order to improve the vaccine’ s acceptability and cover missed and not available children during the anti-polio drives, the Trust for Vaccines and Immunization (TVI), in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation, organized over a dozen free medical and vaccination camps on mother and child health in different far-off areas of the district.
Hundreds of patients, including women and children, suffering from various seasonal diseases were examined by male and female doctors. DHO Dr Syed Muaffar Shah, Advocate Azmat Khan Mandokhail and Dr Mir Dad Kakar flanked by the TVI district coordinator Rohullah Babar and health staff inaugurated the camps in both rural and urban parts of district Zhob.
According to the provincial coordinator, TVI Abdullah, who visited the camps, the camps have been set up in different high-risk districts of Balochistan, including Zhob. The aim of holding camps was not only to provide medical facilities to the underprivileged communities, but also to restore their trust in vaccines.
‘Vaccines play a significant role in the prevention of diseases. The parents should cooperate with the health staff and get their loved one vaccinated against polio and other diseases because vaccination is the only way to protect children from the diseases’, he urged.
National STOP officer Dr Muhammad Amin, ComNet coordinator Samad Hariphal, and inspector police Gulab Din Kakar also visited the camps and inspected the facilities.
TVI coordinator Rohullah Babar on the occasion said that prior to the camps, the health staff went door to door in the targeted union councils to sensitize the community members about the camps and importance of immunization, so that more people could benefit from the facilities. Those who do not have proper access to the medical consultation and medicines can benefit from the camps at their doorstep, adding, ‘Apart from free medical consultation and examination, needy patients were also provided with free of cost medicines’, he added.