76,000 children vaccinated against polio in Khyber Agency
The polio workers said each phase has a target of over 75,900 children.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk) - ?Around 76,000 children under five were immunised against polio in Khyber Agency during the fourth phase of anti-polio drive, the Radio Pakistan reported on Friday.
Under the protective cover of the army and Frontier Corps personnel, polio workers administered vaccine to children in the Malikdin Khel area of Tehsil Bara.
Militants activities in the region have rendered Malikdin Khel volatile and a no-go area for sometime.
The polio workers said each phase has a target of over 75,900 children.
About 120,000 children have been vaccinated in various parts of the Khyber region since the campaign started in 2012.
Wazir Akbar of the National Staff Transmission of Polio in the Khyber tribal area said that polio drops were administered to about 26,878 children during the current phase, which started May 6.
The drive will continue till the end of this month.
He said the situation in Bara has improved as only two polio cases were reported so far in 2014, as compared to 14 in 2013.
The Khyber tribal area, especially Bara, remained inaccessible to polio workers due to terrorist threats.
Pakistan will put into effect from June a WHO recommendation that requires all travellers from the country to carry a polio vaccination certificate.
Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended the measure due to the alarming increase in the number of polio cases in the country (61 so far compared to the total of 91 in 2013).
