Pulse Polio drive to begin on October 12

The Health Department, in collaboration with the district administration, held a District Task Force meeting under the chairmanship of Civil Surgeon Dr Swaranjit Dhawan to ensure the success of the upcoming Pulse Polio round scheduled from October 12.

The meeting was attended by senior medical officers from various blocks, urban medical officers, representatives from ICDS, education, power, panchayati raj, police, roadways, nursing colleges, IMA and brick kiln associations.

District Immunization Officer Dr Bharti Dhawan said although India has been declared a polio-free country, the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to organise these rounds to maintain this achievement.

She emphasised that tackling a disease like polio requires joint efforts from all departments, not just the health department. Dr Dhawan added that full preparations have been made for the upcoming round and directed all medical officers to ensure that no child between 0 to 5 years is left without the medicine.

Dr Ishita from WHO informed that during this round, 2,97,250 children aged 0 to 5 years, living in 5,49,027 households across a population of 27,82,768, will be administered polio drops by 1,407 teams. The process will be supervised by 291 supervisors to ensure complete coverage.