Karachi : Commissioner Karachi Syed Hassan Naqvi visited the districts of Malir, West, and Keamari to review the ongoing anti-polio campaign. He was accompanied by the Coordinator of the Commissioner Karachi polio task force .He visited the office of DC Malir on Friday in the evening and chaired a meeting there. The Commissioner was briefed by the Deputy Commissioner Malir Irfan Salam about the progress and the efforts being made to eradicate the polio virus from the district and to make the campaign successful.. The Commissioner Naqvi directed the Deputy Commissioners, District Health Officers, and polio teams to ensure that every child is vaccinated, and no child is deprived of the vaccination..
The Commissioner said that eradicating polio is a top priority of the government, and various alternatives and effective measures are being taken to prevent the spread of polio in Karachi. He added that the city administration’s all officers are performing their duties under the leadership of Deputy Commissioners to achieve the goal of polio eradication as soon as possible.
Polio teams were directed to perform their duties with a sense of national purpose and ensure that no child is deprived of vaccination. It was informed to the commissioner that vaccination through jet injectors is the most modern, safe, and effective . This campaign is taking place after five years, previously Pakistan had vaccination through jet injectors in 2019 which yielded positive results. Considering the presence of poliovirus in the environment, children above four months are being vaccinated with jet injectors (without needle injection) to help eradicate poliovirus from the environment
Later on Sunday He visited Keamari and West districts .During his visit to the Keamari district, the Commissioner was briefed by the Deputy Commissioner Jundaid khan on the high-risk areas and difficulties faced by polio teams. Commissioner during the visit of vaccination centre at Metorille talked to the members of polio team and social mobilisers to know about the progress and issues about the ongoing anti polio campaign and directed them to seek the help of officials of district administration for the resolution of the issues and ensure cooperation from parents. The Commissioner also visited the district West, where he was briefed by the Deputy Commissioner West Ahmed Ali Sidiqui on the high-risk areas and challenges faced by polio teams.
The Deputy Commissioner Siddiqui informed the Commissioner about the difficulties faced in bringing the children to the Vaccination Desk in the union councils declared super high-risk and high-risk localities. He highlighted the reasons causing difficulties in vaccinating children and expressed their concerns about the lack of cooperation from some parents. The meeting identified the obstacles and discussed alternative solutions.
It was decided that social mobilizers would seek the help of communicty leaders to gain the cooperation of parents to bring them to the entres.Unlike previous campaigns, polio teams do not need to go door-to-door for vaccination.. Special social mobilizers have also been appointed, and social mobilisers with parents to encourage them and ensure that no child is left out. The anti-polio campaign is targeting over one million registered children, and polio teams are not required to go door-to-door. Instead, social mobilizers and outreach desks have been established in various areas to encourage parents to bring their children for vaccination to Out reach Desks.
