ISLAMABAD: On Monday, the selected 49 districts in Pakistan launched the anti-polio campaign of a different duration.
During the special anti-polio campaign more than 9,500,000 youngsters below five years of age will be administered with drops.
Thus, out of all provinces, Punjab has six districts, Sindh has sixteen districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has eleven districts, and Baluchistan has sixteen districts and each of these districts is incorporated in the current campaign.
According to the available data, the targets for Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Islamabad for the mentioned vaccination are 900000, 1300000, 2700000, 4400000 and 133000 respectively.
In certain Union Councils within Islamabad there is a door-to-door polio drive going on at the moment.
This programme is being started due to a increased polio cases in Balochistan. The campaign is taking place in areas where the poliovirus is circulating, going by advisories from the National Command and Operation Center.
Across the country, eight cases of polio have been recorded till now this year. Sewage samples collected on a Saturday from seven areas in Pakistan contain traces of the poliovirus.