Pakistan polio program on track of success: Dr Mirza.

ISLAMABAD -- Terming the nationwide Polio vaccination campaign a first step towards making Pakistan polio free, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday said results from December's drive showed the disease eradication programme is now back on track.

Dr Mirza was given a detailed briefing by the Coordinator National Emergency Operations Centre Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar on completion of anti-polio campaign that was conducted from December 16-20.

This was the first nationwide campaign conducted since April this year after an orchestrated incident in Peshawar impeded the programmes operations.

He was informed that 265,000 frontline workers had vaccinated 43.9 million children under the age of five of the targeted 39.6 million children across Pakistan in five days of the campaign.

In the core reservoirs of Karachi, Peshawar, Khyber, Quetta, Pishin and Killa Abdullah the catch-up activities were extended for a day to cover children who were missed during the door-to-door vaccination.

The polio eradication program is headed in right direction and the government has a firm resolve to defeat poliovirus transmission in the country through optimum utilization of this low transmission season, Dr Mirza said.

He particularly appreciated the unprecedented support of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) during the campaign and said that it was for the first time that

there was no geographical space on the map of Pakistan that was not accessible to the polio teams.

He said it was because of the tireless efforts of the LEA's that the campaign was conducted peacefully. While appreciating the active role of majority of the parents and caregivers in welcoming the vaccinating teams to their house, he said that without the continued support of the parents a polio free Pakistan would not be possible.

Admiring the role of frontline workers, he said the programme should be mindful of their sacrifices in the past and consider them heroes of the success of the polio campaign.

Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the December campaign himself. The commitment and dedication to the cause of polio eradication was seen across the board as the chief ministers lead...