ISLAMABAD: Senior officials of the polio programme on Tuesday visited slums and other less developed areas in the city to monitor the pollo drive, after three environmental samples from the federal capital tested positive for the virus this year.

On the second day of the three-day nation-wide polio campaign, the Prime Minister`s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq and Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar visited houses and spenttime with mothers, asking if their children have been vaccinated by the polio teams.

`We found that a few children had been missed but they will be vaccinated during the catch-up campaign. A number of newborns were also not administered the routine immunisation because locals say the dispensaries are too far from their homes.

We have directed for dispensaries to be established near slums,` Ms Farooq said while talking to Dawn.

She said the campaign also faces problems because it does not have permanent staff and new staff members are unaware of unplanned slums.`We have directed for full-time workers to be recruited for polio campaigns and a joint task force has been established for the twin cities to ensure better working relations and ensure the virus is eradicated from the city,` she added.

They checked for markings on children`s fingers to see if they have been administered the drops, spoke to pollo teams and checl(ed their tally sheets.

During her visit to Mehrabadi, Ms Tarar said injectable polio vaccine should also be given to children in addition to the drops to enhance their immunity against the disease and that all houses, including makeshift ones, be properly marked withpermanent markers to ensure each house is covered.

She told families to get their children vaccinated against diseases and that the vaccines for nine diseases were being provided for free by the government. She told them that it was their responsibility as parents to avail these services for the health and well being of their children.

The health minister said Mehra Jaffar, Bhara Kahu, Rawat, Koral Urban North, Koral Urban South, E-11 and F-11 were areas of concern and require special attention from city`s administration and health ofhcials so no positive cases are reported.