A countrywide campaign to administer anti-polio drops to children by five years of age has been announced to start on Monday.
According to Radio Pakistan, National Coordinator of Polio Eradication Programme Dr Rana Safdar on Sunday said that the anti-polio drive would target 39 million children across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He urged the people to cooperate with polio teams to administer drops to safeguard their children against this crippling disease.
Earlier on Thursday, polio eradication programme had confirmed the presence of active poliovirus in the sewage of 12 big cities of the country.
As per details, the P-1 poliovirus was found from the sewage of cities including, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Banu, Mardan, Waziristan, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Shahdadkot.
In view of the alarming situation, sources maintained the authorities had decided to extend the target age from five to 10 years for the administration of the anti-polio drops.
Earlier, two new polio cases were reported in the country.
According to the prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication, Babar Bin Atta, the first case had been reported in a four-month-old girl in Hangu while another was detected in an eight-month-old boy in Lahore’s Shalimar Town.
A total of four cases of polio had been reported in the ongoing year.
