MANSEHRA: Women health workers are visiting snowbound Kaghan Valley to administer cervical cancer vaccine to girls aged nine to 14 years.
‘Although inclement weather across the district, particularly in Kaghan Valley, has hampered our campaign, we have continued to reach schools, seminaries and homes to administer the cervical cancer vaccine to girls, District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Shah Faisal Khanzada told reporters after visiting a vaccination centre established at the District Council Hall here on Saturday.
The DHO, who also visited various girls’ schools andseminaries where students were being vaccinated, said that despite heavy snowfall and road closures in Kaghan Valley, health teams were reaching educational institutions to administer the vaccine.
‘Although roads in the upper parts of Kaghan Valley are blocked and residents have moved to lower areas, health department teams have reached their targets even in Naran and Kaghan and administered the vaccine to girls in the targeted age group,’ Dr Khanzada said.
He said the teams were also reaching areas where the families who migrated from Kaghan Valley spent the summer.
The DHO said the health department regularly held meetings with office-bearers of the Private Educational Institutions Network, religious scholars, and clerics to seek their support in approaching seminaries.
‘We have to administer the cervical cancer vaccine toaround 10,600 girls through 154 teams across all 59 union councils of the district,’ he said.
MNJ ROAD REMAINS CLOSED: The MansehraNaran-Jalkhad (MNJ) Road remained closed to traffic for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday following heavy snowfall.
Intermittent snowfall continued in Kaghan Valley, hampering efforts to reopen the road.
A glacier also rolled down onto the road in the Barawai area.
According to police, visitors were not allowed to travel towards Gilgit-Baltistan because slippery road conditions made travel through the upper reaches of Kaghan Valley dangerous.
‘If the inclement weather persists, traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan may remain suspended until next summer, as continuous snowfall makes the MNJ Road extremely dangerous for travel,’ a police offi-cial said.
Several four-wheel-drive vehicles and other motorists remained stranded in Naran and adjoining areas because of the persistent snowfall.
The road connecting Naran with Saiful Muluk Lake also remained closed to four-wheeldrive vehicles.
The Kaghan Development Authority has launched a snowclearance operation in Naran to facilitate vehicular movement towards the lower parts of the country.
Meanwhile, intermittent rainfalleontinuedfor the third consecutive day in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and KolaiPalas districts.
Upper Kohistan Deputy Commissioner Azizullah Jan said the Jalkot Road, which had been blocked by a landslide, had been reopened to traffic.
‘Continuous rainfall has disrupted mobile phone and other communication services, affecting life,’ he said.