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KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to launch a week-long anti-polio campaign to inoculate over 6.5 million children under five from October 24 (Monday).
The decision was taken by the provincial task force on the anti-polio drive meeting chaired by Health Minister Azra Pechuho and was also attended by divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, World Health Organization (WHO) representatives, and others.
Speaking during the meeting, Health Minister Azra Fazl Pechuhu directed officials to prepare a separate micro plan for children taking shelter at flood relief camps.
She also directed entire polio team to ensure an immunization drive in flood-hit areas of Sindh.
The campaign would begin on October 24 and continue till Oct 27 in Karachi, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, and Larkana divisions.
It is pertinent to mention here that the National Polio Lab (NPL) has recently detected polio virus in sewage water samples collected from five cities, including Peshawar, Swat, Rawalpindi, Bannu and South Waziristan.
In the ongoing year, as many as 20 cases of poliovirus have been reported from Pakistan.