Peshawar – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally launched its September anti-polio campaign.
The drive was jointly inaugurated by Health Minister Khaliq- ur-Rehman and Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah. Health Secretary Fayyaz Ali Shah, officials from the Provincial Polio Emergency Operations Centre, representatives of international partner organisations, and members of the media also attended the event.
Speaking to the media, Health Minister Khaliq-ur-Rehman said the campaign would be conducted province-wide from September 21 to September 27, with the participation of 35,000 polio teams, security personnel and other relevant agencies. He said the campaign aims to reach 7.3 million children across the province and administer polio drops to them.
He appealed to social media activists and the public to actively participate in the campaign so that the disease could be eradicated once and for all. He also thanked the Chief Secretary for personally monitoring the campaign, saying that this had resulted in significant improvement compared with last year.
The Chief Secretary said all three polio cases reported this year originated in areas where access to children had been difficult due to security concerns. He noted that when a child is left disabled by the virus, the entire family suffers. For this reason, three special campaigns were conducted over the past three months in Upper South Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Bannu to ensure that every child could be reached.
The Chief Secretary further said that special measures had been taken to improve healthcare facilities in the affected areas. These included the recruitment and deployment of 2,400 doctors, final approval and procurement of essential medicines under the MCC list, and the outsourcing of management at 72 remote hospitals. Under the arrangement, patients will continue to receive free treatment, with all costs borne by the government.
He added that a roadmap had also been developed to strengthen and integrate routine immunisation efforts.
The Chief Secretary made it clear that the polio threat was not confined to the province, as the presence of poliovirus in neighbouring countries continued to pose a risk of cross-border transmission. He urged the media and social media users to help raise public awareness, particularly about the importance of reaching children in poor and underserved areas.
He said providing healthcare to children in underserved communities remained a fundamental responsibility of the government.
