PESHAWAR: Fata health authorities plan to focus on vaccinating Afghan refugee children and track down those who were missed during the previous campaign following detection of a fresh polio case in South Waziristan after a gap of seven months.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by polio emergency operation centre`s coordinator Shakeel Qadir Khan here on Tuesday, according to a statement.

The participants directed the relevant authorities to administer oral polio vaccines to children accompanying repatriating families through Fata.

The Afghans who resided camps in Pakistan and frequented their country through Fata should be accorded priority in the vaccination drive.

The meeting was called to take stock of the situation after the first polio case of 2016 detected in South Waziristan, to find out causative agents and devise a plan to immunise every child against poliomyelitis. It discussed the upcoming anti-polio campaign scheduled to start later this month.

Agency surgeons from across Fata, other relevant officials and representatives of partner organisations also participated in the meeting.

On the occasion, WHO`s deputy team leader polio, Dr Abidi Islam, said that the fresh polio case in South Waziristan should not discourage polio emergency operation centre and that efforts should be expedited to reach out the targeted children. He said quality of campaigns in Fata was much better compared to other provinces.-Bureau Report