Islamabad:
The Minister of Health, Mustafa Kamal, announced that the Government will launch an anti-political campaign at the national level on May 26, with the aim of immunizing more than 45 million children under five years.
Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a seven -day national campaign aimed at vaccinating millions of children under five years. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eradicate the country’s polyomyelitis.
Speaking after a meeting with the President of Global Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Chris Elias, on Sunday, Kamal reaffirmed the government’s determination to eradicate polyomyelitis under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz.
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“The prime minister is personally monitoring the performance of the program and celebrates regular meetings to guarantee its success,” said Kamal. “Federal and provincial governments, together with the agencies of application of the law, are united in this mission.”
Mustafa Kamal praised the continuous support of the Gates Foundation and said the security forces had made “immense sacrifices” in the campaign against the polio. “Our struggle has come with the sacrifices, but the mission will continue until the polio is completely eradicated,” he added.
The minister said that the next campaign will have coordination with Afghanistan, continuing joint efforts between the two neighboring countries. He said that previous campaigns in February and April were completed successfully, and vaccination resistance was decreasing.
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“Due to high quality campaigns and community commitment, the number of parents who reject vaccines have decreased significantly,” Kamal said. “We are committed to eliminating polyomyelitis for the end of this year.” Dr. Elias praised the antipolium efforts of Pakistan and expressed his optimism that the country could fulfill its eradication objective for 2025.
Unfortunately, Pakistan remains among the countries that still fight against polyomyelitis and continue to take measures to eradicate the disease. So far this year, the country has reported eight cases, despite vaccination campaigns throughout the country.
Last year, Pakistan reported 74 confirmed polio cases: 27 of Baluchistan, 22 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 23 of Sindh, and one from Punjab and Islamabad.
