Our Gore-Mints...

Anti-polio drive kicks off to target 33.9m children

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Health on Monday launched three-day (20-22 July) National Polio Campaign in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) to give drops to 33.9 million children under five years of age in Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan.

Campaign in Sindh has been delayed by a week due to heavy floods. Health Minister Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani inaugurated the fourth nation-wide polio campaign at National Institute of Health (NIH).

Speaking on the occasion, Jakhrani said eradication of polio was the largest public health initiative ever undertaken in Pakistan. “It will be impossible for one government, one ministry, one donor, or one NGO to meet this challenge alone. We all have to pull together,” he said.

He said Benazir Bhutto launched the first polio campaign in 1994 and that 2009 must be a year of full-scale nation-wide polio campaigns.

“What makes our partnerships with police and motorway unique is that it ensures giving drops to even those children who are traveling,” he said.

“I encourage all parents to ensure that their children are immunised against the disease,” he said.

Dr Sharma, a representative of the UNICEF, said UNICEF would help financially and technically in eradicating all diseases related to children.

Dr Ahmed Shah, a representative of WHO, said since 1994, over 25,000 polio cases have been recorded annually but the number had now been reduced drastically. “Only 117 polio cases were recorded in 2008,” he said.

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150 ex-armymen to be inducted into police: SSP

ISLAMABAD: One hundred and fifty retired army personnel will soon be inducted into Capital police to improve their strength, said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tahir Alam Khan on Monday.

Briefing the police on their responsibilities at the auditorium of National Library, he said those retired army men would be deputed at police pickets set up in different parts of the city.

The SSP said efforts were underway to solve accommodation and transportation problems of police. He said a deal was being finalised with two companies to provide motorcycles to the police personnel on installments. He said the security of red zone - now declared a high security zone - had been further strengthened.

He directed the police officials to behave with public politely while carrying out checking. He said action would be initiated against police officials if found misbehaving with people.

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MY COMMENTS:

The pharmaceuticals industry, the God-cursed World Disease Organization and our pathetic gore-mints are all conspiring to reduce the population through these 'health drives' instead of producing more electricity, creating conditions conducive to earning a decent livelihood, controlling the brain-drain, tackling the spiralling inflation, and ridding itself of lawlessness.