They can now travel to remote areas
Commissioner Shaukat Ali Yousufzai administers polio drops to children during an anti-polio campaign in Bannu, KP. Photo: Online
The Expanded Programme of Immunisation has distributed more than 600 motorbikes to vaccinators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to increase immunisation coverage.
The EPI workers will also receive two litres of petrol every day. The initiative aims to increase vaccine coverage for vulnerable children, which is currently less than 79%.
Ten infectious diseases will be covered: childhood tuberculosis, rotavirus diarrhoea, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio and tetanus.
EPI teams will now reach every family’s doorsteps to administer vaccines.
The workers will be able to easily reach far-flung areas, said Health Services Director-General Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan.
The government will also increase the number of vaccinators in the province.
Previously, one child was covered on an average, but now 10 to 12 children will be vaccinated, said Liaquat Khan, an EPI technician