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QUETTA, Jul 28 (APP):Balochistan Health Secretary Mujibur Rahman on Monday said that our struggle against a deadly disease like polio has reached a decisive juncture.
He said that from today, the anti-polio campaign is being formally launched in the province with the help of Fractional Inactivated Polio Vaccine (fIPV), during which more than 585,000 children would be vaccinated against polio.
He said that the anti-polio campaign would continue until August 4, 2025. No new polio case was reported from Balochistan in the year 2025, while the rate of polio virus presence in environmental samples has reduced from 98 percent to 17 percent which is an encouraging development.
He expressed these while inaugurating the campaign by administering polio drops and fractional inactivated polio vaccine to a child.
On this occasion, he also appealed to parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated.
The Secretary said that this vaccine increases the immunity of children to such an extent that they could effectively fight the polio virus.
During the campaign, a target has been set to vaccinate 585,490 children aged 4 to 59 months against polio, which will continue till August 4, 2025.
He said that the campaign is being run in 123 high-risk union councils of Balochistan, including Quetta, Pishin, Chaman, Dera Bugti, Duki, Zhob and Qila Abdullah.
For this purpose, 1,835 vaccination teams have been formed, which would go door to door to vaccinate children, along with immunization, children could also be given polio drops.
The Health Secretary urged to parents, social workers, scholars and local representatives to make this vaccine accessible to every child around them. If the teams do not reach somewhere, then parents should go to the nearest vaccination centers and get their children vaccinated.
He said that concrete steps are being taken to eradicate polio under the guidance of the Balochistan government, the government of Pakistan, the Chief Minister and the Health Minister.
Strong security arrangements have also been made to ensure the safety of vaccination teams during the campaign. Positive results of the ongoing efforts to eradicate polio are coming out, he said.
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