Nationwide anti-polio drive of varied durations begins today

The government has started a nationwide anti-polio drive today (Monday, January 8) to administer vaccines to children under five years of age.

According to the media reports, the Polio teams of the health department will go door to door to administer polio drops during the nationwide anti-polio drive. In Punjab, anti-polio drops will be given to almost 23 million youngsters during the course of a week-long polio campaign. Lahore, Faisalabad, and Multan have been identified by the health authorities as the cities most at risk in this regard.

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During a week-long campaign, about ten point zero three million children in Sindh up to the age of five would receive an anti-polio vaccine. During a five-day campaign, nearly 74 million children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa up to the age of five would receive anti-polio drops. During the five days of the campaign, more than 700,000 children in Azad Jammu and Kashmir would receive vaccinations.

A week-long polio drive in Balochistan would provide anti-polio drops to approximately 2.5 million children under five years of age. 200,000 children in Gilgit-Baltistan will receive vaccinations throughout the course of the five-day campaign. Parents can call the helpline at 1166 if a polio team does not visit any homes.