Anti-Polio drive in Hyderabad through 872 booths until June 26

The Indian Government has set up a mass anti-polio drive in Hyderabad as well as Ranga Reddy district to enable parents to have their children immunized against Poliomyelitis.

This is the first large scale public drive by the Government since our country was officially announced as being free of polio.

The Government has worked towards setting up a total of 872 vaccination booths spread across Hyderabad (756 booths) and Ranga Reddy district (116 booths).

All parents with infants that are between the age group of 6-weeks to 3-years of age are requested to bring the infant to the immunization booth for a dose of the vaccine.

Dr. Rao who is the Government’s liaison for the immunization project told the press that they expect children from all areas to turn up.

Rao especially urged parents to bring their children to the drive by mentioning the vaccine was safe and would boost their child’s immunity.

The drive will also be overlooked by the World Health Organization and shall be open to visitors beginning June 20th through June 26th, lasting a total period of 6 days.

When setting up and preparing for the drive, Government medical professionals took the opportunity to tie up with local pediatricians so as to help reach out to parents of infants in the most efficient manner.

The Government along with the WHO and UNICEF managed to reach out to parents of more than 2 lakh children.

According to reports, a total of over 3.5 lakh units of the polio vaccine have been developed for the week-long drive in Hyderabad.

The efforts have been undertaken to avoid an outbreak of the disease, after a case of the vaccine-derived polio virus recently came up in the city.

The drive is primarily centered around the most prone areas, before a study is conducted to see if anyone has been affected by the disease.