PM Shehbaz Sharif kicks off anti-polio drive across the country

ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, kicked off the anti-polio drive by administering polio vaccine drops to children under five years of age at the Prime Minister’s House.

PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed Pakistan’s commitment to ending polio and emphasised the role of the leaders, health workers, and parents to ensure that the disease never paralyses a child. 

The Ministry of Health has initiated a nationwide anti-polio campaign lasting one week. Details indicate that children under the age of five will receive polio drops during the drive. During the campaign, anti-polio vaccines will be administered to 22 million youngsters in the province of Punjab. 

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Department reported that anti-polio drops would be administered to nine million children in the province. Approximately 7,2 million youngsters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will receive anti-polio drops. There will be around twenty-five thousand teams participating in the campaign.

Abdul Qadir Patel, the federal minister of health, appealed to the people for assistance in eradicating polio. He emphasised that the country has set a goal to vaccinate at least 43,3 million children during the immunisation campaign, which was launched on August 19 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The ceremony was attended by Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh, Abdul Qadir Patel, Federal Minister for Health, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Information Minister, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation members.