Deputy Commissioner Poonch Ashok Kumar Sharma today formally inaugurated the three-day Intensified Pulse Polio Immunisation Campaign at Raja Sukhdev Singh District Hospital, Poonch. The DC informed 427 Pulse Polio booths have been established across the district, with 854 teams deployed, besides 13 dedicated teams stationed at check posts and high-footfall areas including bus stands to cover children aged zero to five years.
Over the next two days, door-to-door teams will visit households to identify and vaccinate children who missed booth-based sessions. CMO Poonch Dr Parvaiz Ahmed Khan said June 28 has been dedicated to booth-based vaccination, with June 29 and 30 focussed on house-to-house vaccination to cover missed children.
Poonch district has identified 79,560 children aged zero to five for vaccination. The 427 booths include 32 in Urban Poonch, 140 in Mandi, 120 in Mendhar and 135 in Surankote. A total of 86 supervisors have been deployed, each monitoring five booths.
The target child population includes 4,320 in Urban Poonch, 24,670 in Mandi, 26,000 in Mendhar and 24,570 in Surankote, with the campaign covering 92,903 households across the district. Special arrangements have been made for 24 hard-to-reach areas, six high-focus areas, 13 transit points, four mobile teams and four mela/bazaar teams.
A total of 1,708 team members, including paramedics, ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and volunteers, have been deployed. Among those present were Chief Medical Officer Dr Parvaiz Ahmed Khan, Medical Superintendent District Hospital Dr Mohd Shafeeq, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ruby Naz Bhatti and District Immunisation Officer Dr Zoohra Parveen.
The campaign was simultaneously launched across all subdivisions, including Mendhar, Surankote and Mandi and conducted at Government Primary Health Centres, Sub-Centres, schools and Anganwadi Centres, with participation from former PRI representatives and senior citizens.