Over 4,700 children inaccessible for polio drops

Gul Hamaad Farooqi

CHITRAL: An anti-polio campaign has started in Lower Chitral which will continue for three days followed by a two-day catch-up drive in which drops will be administered to children left out during the three days.

Health department officials in some areas have to walk on snowy roads door-to-door to administer polio drops to children under the age of five besides giving them vitamin A supplements.

According to District Health Officer Dr Fayaz Rumi and EPI Coordinator Dr. Farman Nizar, their target is to administer polio drops to 45,676 children while 4,720 children will be missed because they live in places where all roads are closed due to heavy snowfall

In Lower Chitral, 25 fixed centres have been set up where health staff will administer polio drops to the children. Likewise, 308 mobile teams will go door-to-door to administer polio drops to children.

Polio drops will also be administered at 14 transit points to cover children coming from down districts such. Moreover, eight roaming teams have been formed to administer drops.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ziaullah Khan, District Coordinator for LHW Program, along with his team visited the snow-covered areas of Shoghur and Seewakht etc. and urged parents to give two drops of polio to their children.