Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday launched Gujarat's statewide Pulse Polio immunisation campaign from Gandhinagar by administering oral polio vaccine drops to children, marking the start of a drive that aims to cover more than 83.49 lakh children aged below five years across the state.
The campaign, being conducted under the 'Polio Eradication Programme', will be implemented through 32,997 polio booths across Gujarat. A total of 65,994 health teams, working under the supervision of 6,599 Health Department supervisors, have been deployed to administer the vaccine to eligible children.
The state observed June 28 as Polio Sunday, with vaccination taking place at designated booths. The campaign will continue on June 29 and 30, when health workers will undertake door-to-door visits to ensure that children aged between 0 and 5 years who may have missed the booth-based vaccination receive the oral polio vaccine.
Launching the campaign, CM Patel administered polio drops to children in the presence of Minister of State for Health, Praful Pansheriya, symbolically inaugurating the statewide immunisation drive. "Today, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the polio vaccination drive has been launched.
All children aged 0 to 5 years will be given polio drops. The campaign will continue for three days," Pansheriya noted. According to the state government, the campaign is aimed at sustaining Gujarat's efforts under the national polio eradication programme by ensuring that every eligible child receives the vaccine.
Gandhinagar Mayor Mira Patel, Gandhinagar North MLA Rita Patel, the party's city president Ashish Dave, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajiv Topno, Health Commissioner Dr Ratankavar Gadhvi, parents of the children and senior health officials were present at the launch event.
In Gandhinagar district alone, more than 1.58 lakh children will be administered polio drops as part of the Pulse Polio National Immunisation Campaign. The initiative will be carried out through an extensive network of 746 vaccination booths set up across the district.
To reach children in remote and high-mobility populations, 103 mobile teams will be deployed to areas such as brick kilns, construction sites and other underserved locations. In addition, five transit teams will operate at bus stands, railway stations and other public places to vaccinate children who are travelling or on the move.
A total of 3,167 health workers will be engaged in the campaign to supervise and administer the vaccine, ensuring coordination across booths, mobile units and transit points.