First anti-polio drive of year kicks off.

LAHORE -- In order to prevent poliovirus re-infection, Punjab rolled out the first national immunisation drive against polio of this year here on Monday.

In the massive activity, Punjab aims to reach out and vaccinate more than 20.54 million children in the five-day drive, which will go on till Jan 22 in districts like Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

While in the rest of Punjab, the drive will also last for five days, according to a press release issued here on Monday.

According to the statement, the head of the polio program and Punjab Emergency Operations Centre, Coordinator Khizer Afzaal Chaudhary, paid surprise visits to Faisalabad, Khushab, and Sargodha to assess district performance in the implementation of the campaign.

The EOC head visited hospitals, nomadic as well as priority community settlements and transit points.

Speaking to polio teams and officials, the EOC chief emphasized the importance of improving the quality of the campaign and ensuring that no child is left without a vaccine.

The head of the polio program expressed satisfaction that Punjab had been polio-free for two years, but warned that the victory over the virus could be fleeting.

He underlined that in order to save children from paralysis, multiple doses of the polio vaccine were required. So vaccination of all children in every...