LAHORE: A country-wide anti-polio campaign is starting from Monday (Today) in which over 40 million children will be administered polio vaccine along with the supplementary dose of vitamin-A.
Polio teams would visit door to door to administer polio drops to the children. Health departments have constituted teams for administering polio drops to the children.
The caretaker Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan has urged parents to fully cooperate with the polio teams and ensure the administration of polio drops to their children. He said that eradication of Polio from the country is responsibility of every citizen. He said that incidence of polio has been reduced to only a few areas of the country. He said that the global certification requires that no polio case emerges for the three consecutive years.
Dr. Nadeem Jan further said the government has created a coherent and comprehensive strategy to develop health sector on modern lines. He added the government is strengthening the primary healthcare system to reduce burden of patients on major hospitals. He said the primary healthcare system is being digitized to provide best medical facilities to patients of rural areas.
On the other hand, Punjab is experiencing a fast-growing pink eye infection and as per latest data shared by the health authorities over 10,000 new cases in a single one day reported in hospitals across the province of Punjab.
Ophthalmologists urged those affected by the disease to self-isolate to help curb spread of the virus. They advised that infected individuals should be excused from work and business to prevent further transmission of the virus.
Dr. Muhammad Moeen, Principal of the College of Ophthalmology, Lahore said, “The increasing number of pink eye cases demands immediate action from the Punjab government.”
In order to prevent the growing epidemic of conjunctivitis , Lahore General Hospital (LGH) has established a helpline on which citizens while sitting at home can get medical advice and proper guidance from Ophthalmologists from 8:00 am to 2:00pm daily.
Any citizen can contact at 042-99268877 or 042-99268816 and get full awareness about conjunctivitis.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Arooj Amjad stated that everyone should wash hands frequently and avoid touching eyes while keeping their personal items such as towels, handkerchiefs, pillows etc., away from others. She further said that the citizens should also avoid shaking hands with each other as this may spread this eye’s infection as well. She added that one should not use any medicine without consulting doctors properly, moreover, keep splashing your eyes with clean water so that germs do not stay their easily.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023