KARACHI: Commissioner Karachi Syed Hassan Naqvi visited Manghopir on Thursday to review the ongoing polio vaccination campaign, directing officials and elected local government representatives to intensify efforts to reach children who have previously missed vaccination or whose parents have refused polio drops.
“Special attention is being given to the vaccination of children whose parents have previously refused vaccination,” the Commissioner said.
During a meeting with elected local government representatives organised by the Town Municipal Administration Manghopir at Naya Nazimabad Gymkhana, it was decided to seek the assistance of Union Council chairmen, councillors, administrative officers and other community representatives to ensure vaccination of all missed and refusal children.
Polio Task Force Coordinator Saud Yaqub, Additional Deputy Commissioner West Syed Jahangir Shah, Town Municipal Administration Chairman Nawaz Brohi, elected representatives and officials attended the meeting.
The Commissioner said that in affected and low-coverage Union Councils, polio teams working under the supervision of the district administration would directly approach parents. Local government representatives would also play an active role in persuading families to vaccinate children who had previously been missed or whose vaccination had been refused.
Naqvi said significant progress was being made in efforts to eliminate poliovirus from Karachi. Appreciating the efforts of the Sindh Health Department, he said nine out of 12 environmental samples collected in the city had turned negative, while efforts were continuing regarding the remaining samples.
He said polio remained a major public health challenge and that the Sindh government and Karachi administration were treating its eradication as a national cause. Deputy Commissioners, the Health Department and international partners were making coordinated efforts in accordance with established protocols.
The Commissioner said poliovirus remained endemic in only Pakistan and Afghanistan, adding that achieving high vaccination coverage during every campaign in Karachi, particularly in Manghopir, was critically important.
He said a distinctive strategy was being implemented in Manghopir Town to make the campaign more effective and result-oriented. Teams had been divided into three zones, while elected local government representatives had been tasked with approaching parents whose children had previously missed vaccination or whose families had refused it.
According to an official handout, three teams in Manghopir Town were conducting door-to-door visits to achieve complete coverage. Religious scholars and community leaders were also being engaged to raise awareness through mosques about the importance of polio vaccination.
Naqvi said Union Council chairmen and councillors had been provided lists containing the names and addresses of refusal and missed children as well as households with low vaccination coverage in their respective areas.
The meeting was informed that councillors of UC-14 and adjoining wards had been assigned a target of 83 children, most of whom had been covered during the previous three days. However, 45 children whose families had reportedly refused vaccination during the previous six campaigns remained a particular focus.
Representatives of the White Garments Zone were assigned the largest refusal target of 207 children, who were being approached through door-to-door visits.
In Abbas Town and other wards, under the supervision of Qari Abdullah and Taus Khan, more than 46 of 143 targeted children had been covered, while teams continued daily visits to the remaining households in coordination with community mobilisers.
Community members, local influencers and neighbourhood elders would also accompany Community Block Officers in the field for at least one to one-and-a-half hours daily to address concerns and misconceptions regarding polio vaccination.
At the conclusion of the meeting, local government representatives and administration officials reiterated their commitment to intensifying efforts during the remaining days of the campaign to reach all eligible children and contribute to a polio-free future.
