rki.news
Altaf Hamid Rao
MIRPUR (AJK), November 1: More than 73,000 children under five years of age will be vaccinated during a four-day anti-polio campaign in Mirpur district from November 2 to 5, official sources said on Sunday.
Deputy Commissioner Mirpur Syed Imran Abbas Naqvi has urged parents and the public to extend full cooperation to vaccination teams to ensure that no eligible child is missed.
He was speaking after inaugurating the campaign by administering oral polio vaccine drops to children at the office of the District Health Officer (DHO), Mirpur.
DHO Dr Fida Hussain Raja said health teams would conduct door-to-door visits across the district to vaccinate all children under five. He described polio eradication as a national and religious responsibility requiring collective efforts by the government, health department and public.
He said the district had been divided into 36 union councils and wards, with trained supervisors appointed to monitor the campaign. Under WHO guidelines, the monitoring network includes two tehsil supervisors, 35 Union Council Monitoring Officers and 103 union council and ward in-charges.
A total of 439 mobile vaccination teams and 42 fixed centres at health facilities have been established to cover 73,317 children. Fourteen transit points have also been set up at important locations to vaccinate children travelling with their parents.
Dr Fida Hussain said the campaign would receive support from Municipal Corporation Mirpur and municipal committees of Islamgarh, Chakswari and Dadyal, along with union council-level teams.
He appealed to parents and public and private educational institutions to cooperate with vaccination teams visiting homes and schools. He expressed confidence that the campaign would achieve its 100 per cent vaccination target, citing the success of previous drives through effective planning, dedicated teams and public cooperation.
Deputy Commissioner Naqvi said no polio case had so far been reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, attributing this to the government’s strategy and the efforts of health teams. However, he stressed that complete eradication required continued public support.
District Mufti Abdul Ghaffar Salafi, Medical Superintendent New City Teaching Hospital Mirpur Dr Nadeem Fazal Dad, ADHO CDC Dr Shumaila Kiran, Assistant District Coordinator National Programme Dr Faria, WHO Disease Surveillance Officer Dr Iram, Assistant Director Surveillance Muhammad Riaz, Assistant Director Training Waqas Ahmad Khan, District Drug Controller Abdul Rehman, IDSR Surveillance Officer Dr Muhammad
