SWAT: A five-day anti-polio campaign has started in Swat district and a total of 2,600 teams have been formed for this purpose, which are going door to door to administer polio drops to children under the age of five to protect them from the police.
On Monday, Deputy Commissioner Swat Shahzad Mahboob inaugurated the polio campaign in Swat district by administering polio drops to the children. The inauguration ceremony of the polio campaign, which will continue till February 7, was also attended by District Health Officer Swat Dr. Muhammad Saleem Khan and other concerned officers.
According to health department officials, under this campaign, 477,665 children in 326,533 households across the district will be administered polio drops and the formed teams will go door to door to administer polio drops to the children.
The Deputy Commissioner Swat has issued a message to the parents, saying that it is mandatory to administer polio drops to all their children up to the age of five and protect them from lifelong disabilities.
District Health Officer Swat Dr. Muhammad Saleem Khan, while issuing a message to parents and other guardians, said that the eradication of polio virus is a common and national duty of all of us and the role of polio teams and parents is very important in the complete eradication of polio virus.
Therefore, they should fully cooperate with the frontline health workers who come to their doorsteps to vaccinate children and make sure to administer polio drops to their children.
He said that under this campaign, polio vaccine drops will be administered to children under the age of five across the district, for which 2600 teams have been formed under the supervision of 468 area in-charges and 80 union council medical officers.
In addition, District Police Officer Swat Nasir Mahmood also visited different areas to review the security arrangements during the polio campaign and administered polio drops to children.
DPO Swat said that 3,123 officers and personnel of Swat Police have been deployed to carry out the polio campaign peacefully, and DSB and white flag personnel have also been deployed.
He said that to maintain law and order in the district, police have set up roadblocks on all the highways of the district, while Quick Response Force (QRF) squads are also patrolling to provide timely assistance to the police personnel deployed with the polio teams in case of any emergency.
On this occasion, he also inspected various BHUs, roadblocks and polio teams.
He met the police personnel on polio duty and issued instructions to them to remain alert at all times to ensure the safety of themselves and their polio team, keep a close watch on suspicious people around them and take effective steps to root out anti-social elements.
