82,354 kids administered polio drops on Day 1

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 25

The five-day pulse polio drive started in the city today. The Health Department teams visited 1,80,916 houses and administered polio drops to 82,354 kids on the first day.

The drive started from the Urban Primary Health Centre, Salem Tabri, where Civil Surgeon Dr Renu Chhatwal administered drops to kids.

Dr Renu said the drive would last till September 29 and every child in the age group of 0-5 years should be given polio drops. Teams will be visiting the houses located in the urban areas on all five days, while houses in rural areas would be visited on three days. A total of 1,644 teams have been formed by the Health Department to cover this drive, in which 1,509 teams will be visiting the houses, 54 are transit teams and 81 are mobile teams. These teams will be supervised by 324 supervisors.

District Immunisation Officer Dr Jasvir Singh said it was in 1995, that the drive was started to eradicated polio from the country. From 2010 to September 2016 no case of polio has been reported from Punjab. India has been declared a polio-free nation, but due to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, where polio cases were still being reported, there was a need for polio drives to be conducted in the country since people regularly travel to these countries.