Anti-polio campaign targeting over 1mn kids begins in Pak

Islamabad, Feb 21 A five-day anti-polio campaign targeting over one million children began in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, an official said.

Abdul Basit, coordinator for polio eradication at the Emergency Operations Centre of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told local media that drops will be administered to more than one million children aged up to five to eradicate the crippling virus, reports Xinhua news agency.

Some 5,700 mobile teams sent by the health department will administer anti-polio drops to the children in six districts of the province, the official said, adding that anti-polio teams will also be deployed to railway stations, bus stops and other public places.

Pakistan is one of the world's only two countries where the polio endemic remains.

The Asian country reported one polio case in 2021, compared to 84 cases in 2020.

Pakistan's health experts believe that consistent efforts made by the government have helped in controlling the crippling infectious disease affecting children in the country, and urge further work to sustain the accomplishment in 2021 for completely eradicating polio this year.