Efforts Underway to Make Kakinada Polio-Free: Joint Collector
Kakinada, June 23 (TNT): Kakinada Joint Collector Apurva Bharat on Tuesday said concerted efforts were being made to make the district polio-free by ensuring complete coverage under the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme scheduled for June 28.
Chairing a meeting of the District Task Force Committee on Pulse Polio at the Collectorate, he directed officials of the Medical and Health, Revenue, Police, Education, DRDA, ICDS, Industries and Transport departments to work in close coordination to ensure the success of the immunisation drive.
The Joint Collector said all children below five years of age must be administered polio drops during the campaign. According to official estimates, there are 1,44,762 children in the age group in the district and every eligible child should be covered under the programme.
For the implementation of the drive, authorities have set up 990 Pulse Polio booths, 56 transit points and 61 mobile teams across the district.
Apurva Bharat stressed the need for extensive awareness campaigns and directed officials to publicise the programme through WhatsApp messages and traditional “Tom-Tom” announcements in villages.
He also instructed officials to organise mike announcements and awareness rallies on June 27, a day before the immunisation drive.
He further directed Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) to undertake door-to-door visits, identify eligible children, motivate parents and ensure that all children are brought to the booths for immunisation.
District Revenue Officer Dr. T. Tippe Naik, District Medical and Health Officer Dr. J. Narasimha Naik, District Leprosy and Disease Control Officer Dr. Chalamaiah, District Immunisation Officer Dr. K.V. Subbaraju, ICDS Project Director C. Lakshmi, Child Protection Officer Pithani Trinath, Special Branch DSP Kunapareddi Satyanarayana and other officials attended the meeting.
TNT TMR
