Foreign
PAKISTAN on Monday inaugurated a new door-to-door campaign to vaccinate millions of children against polio in spite of the risks posed by climbing Coronavirus infections, an official said.
The five-day campaign will target more than 40 million children under the age of five.
Around 285,000 frontline workers will span out across Pakistan’s 156 districts to administer the oral drops while following COVID-19 safety protocols.
“COVID-19 continues to challenge us but we are committed to ensuring continuity of the essential public health services during these difficult times,’’ the special assistant to the prime minister on health, Faisal Sultan said in a statement.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are among only a few countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
The country came very close to eliminating polio, but recorded 147 cases, a five-year high in 2019, amid vaccine boycotts and attacks on health workers.
Pakistan started a polio program in 1994, but the work of the health workers was repeatedly hampered by violent incidents by extremists.
The UN-funded drive to vaccinate children under the age of five also faces opposition from religious conservatives, who believe the vaccine administered in multiple rounds is intended to make Muslim children sterile.
The second polio vaccination drive of the year started at a time when the country is battling to bring down steadily rising daily infections of coronavirus over 4,000 per day, amid a third wave of the pandemic.
On Monday, Pakistan put virus hotspots in over two dozen cities with higher infection rates under lockdown and started the process of vaccinating people aged 50 and above.
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign had started in February but has received a lukewarm response. (dpa/NAN)
– Mar. 29, 2021 @ 12:57 GMT
Tags: Pakistan begins five-day anti-polio campaign as COVID-19 cases rise
