Three-day polio drive launched across city

The three-day Pulse Polio Immunisation Campaign, being held under the World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative, was inaugurated here today by Civil Surgeon Dr Swaranjeet Dhawan, who administered polio drops to children at a booth set up in the slum area of Bangla Basti.

Dr Dhawan said that on the first day of the drive, over one lakh children below five years of age were administered polio drops at booths set up across the district. Special booths were established at religious and tourist sites to ensure that every child was covered, he added.

The Civil Surgeon further stated that during the remaining two days of the campaign, health teams would go door to door to immunise children who could not be brought to the booths by their parents today. He appealed to residents to cooperate with the visiting teams.

He said that although India has been declared polio-free, such rounds continue to be conducted to maintain this achievement and protect every child from the disease. “To completely eradicate polio, public participation is essential,” he emphasised.

District Immunisation Officer Dr Bharti Dhawan said that during this campaign, 1,407 teams have been constituted to visit 5,49,027 households and administer polio drops to 2,97,250 children aged 0–5 years.