Tag: anti-polio

  • Bomb Kills Five Police From Pakistan Polio Protection Team

    Bomb Kills Five Police From Pakistan Polio Protection Team

    A bomb targeting a polio protection team in Bajaur, northwestern Pakistan, on Monday killed at least five police officers, officials said.

    “A police truck transporting around 25 policemen for anti-polio campaign duties was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device),” Anwar ul Haq, a senior government official in Bajaur district, told AFP.

    He said at least five police officers were killed and at least 20 others were wounded.

    Kashif Zulfiqar, a senior police officer in the district, confirmed the death toll.

    The attack happened in Mamund in Bajaur district, on the border with Afghanistan, in an area where militancy has been rising since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Islamist militants, including the Pakistan Taliban, have killed scores of polio vaccination workers and their security escorts in the past.

  • More than 63 million children to be vaccinated in massive five day polio drive

    More than 63 million children to be vaccinated in massive five day polio drive

    A five-day anti-polio drive began in different parts of the country on Monday. More than, 63 million children will be will be vaccinated during the polio drive. The government has set a target of twenty-two million children in Punjab and more than one hundred and fifty thousand polio workers have been deployed for the purpose.

    In Sindh, anti-polio drops will be given to approximately ten million children under the age of five in thirty districts. The initiative will involve seventy thousand health professionals and ten thousand supervisors.

    During the drive, anti-polio drops would be given to nearly 2.5 million children under the age of five in Balochistan. Approximately 10,000 teams have been formed for this purpose.

    In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, anti-polio vaccination will be provided to around 6.2 million children under the age of five in twenty-nine districts.

    During the door-to-door campaign, over 30,000 teams will administer anti-polio drops to children. To esnure the administering anti-polio drops to maximum children polio teams will also be available at railway stations.