PESHAWAR, Apr 16 (dna):As families across Peshawar came together last week to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, a vital initiative takes center stage in the fight against polio on this occasion as the Provincial Emergency Operations Center (EOC) established Polio vaccination stalls at Bagh-e-Naran Park and Peshawar Zoo to vaccinate children, educate parents, and foster community involvement in eradicating this crippling disease.
During Eid festival, a large number of families visited these parks with children, providing a unique opportunity to the polio teams to reach out to children and get them vaccinated. These special vaccination stalls offered a blend of immunization services, awareness on importance of vaccination, and other engaging activities for families.
The initiative, spearheaded by Provincial Emergency Operation Center (EOC), aimed at ensuring that no child misses out on immunization against polio.
These Eid stalls specifically prioritized the vaccination of children who may have missed recent campaigns or whose families are planning to travel out of the city before the next scheduled campaign.
The initiative also helped in educating the public about the critical importance of polio immunization.
Extending offers to parents, students, and adults who wish to actively participate in eradicating polio, participants also had the opportunity to vaccinate their own children and others around them.
During this special five-days polio vaccination drive during Eid days, 1446 children were vaccinated against polio including 435 children at Peshawar Zoo and 1011 children at Bagh-e-Naran.
Officials of the district administration, EOC officials and representatives of partner organizations also visited these vaccination stalls to highlight the significance of polio vaccination to the visitors.
Commenting on the initiative, Special Secretary Health/EOC Coordinator, Abdul Basit emphasized that, “Our aim is not only to vaccinate children but also to empower communities to actively participate in the fight against polio. By combining immunization services with engaging activities, we hope to create a lasting impact in our efforts to eradicate polio.”
