Dear Rotarians,
The next round of NIDs from 12 – 14’ 2018 are very crucial for our program. In January, positive environmental samples for the polio virus were detected from three districts. Two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (Peshawar and Kohat) and the third from Karachi, district Landhi, province of Sindh.
It is imperative to keep the virus at bay if we are to eradicate this disease. Movement of transient population is the main cause of the virus in circulation. Children from across the Pak Afghan border entering into Pakistan are often unvaccinated and have been missed out, from security conflict zones. These are carriers of the polio virus and vulnerable children with poor immunity, malnutrition and poor sanitation become easy prey if the virus is in circulation.
Rotarians must be vigilant during the National Immunizations Days. Monitoring and surveillance is extremely important for us in this low transmission months. Our opportunities lie in the maximum coverage of all children, increase in Routine Immunization and tracking the movement of children crossing inter provincial borders. The PTPs that Rotary has established across the country, is doing a valuable job in administering polio vaccine to all incoming and outgoing families with children crossing from one province to another.
We must continue to work with polio teams and partners in getting the job done. This is our last chance. We have worked very hard to bring the numbers down. Let us strive for ‘zero’ case in 2018. Let us not be the last country to eradicate polio.
Fond regards
Aziz Memon.