Polio vaccine of millions of rupees has been found dumped in a heap of garbage littered on the railway ground adjacent to District Headquarters Hospital, Attock on Saturday. Soon after having been informed, the CO Health, Attock, and the police reached the spot and seized the vaccine. On the other hand, a letter has been written to Deputy Commissioner Attock Rao Atif Raza to form an impartial inquiry committee to look into the matter. The first nationwide polio vaccination campaign of 2024 had been conducted in the country last month to protect children from paralytic polio.

During the nationwide campaign, more than 44.3 million children under five years of age were given oral polio drops during the five-day-long campaign which continued until January 12. Children in Lakki Marwat and South Waziristan Upper and Lower were be vaccinated from January 15-19, while the campaign was held in Tank from January 15-21 and in DI Khan from January 22-28. Over 400,000 vaccinators took the vaccine at children’s doorstep. In Punjab, 22.6 million children were vaccinated, while 10.3 million children in Sindh, 7.5 million children in KP, 2.6 million children in Balochistan, 0.72 million children in AJK, 0.28 million children in GB and 0.42 million children in Islamabad.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)