LANDI KOTAL: The Directorate of Health Services, Fata, in collaboration with Unicef will launch `continued community polio vaccination` campaign in Bara and Jamrud tehsils of Khyber Agency to check the spread of polio virus in the region.

Health officials said that 100 local vaccinators would be engaged in both Bara and Jamrud tehsils to conduct door-to-door continuous campaign starting from September 1.

The World Health Organisation representative for Fata, Dr Sarfaraz Afridi, told Dawn that each vaccinator would be assigned 10 to 30 houses in a locality on daily basis to ascertain the number of children under five years of age and administer antipolio drops to those children.

He said that number of children under five years of age in Bara was approximately 80,000 prior to the start of military operation in 2009. `The number had since then increased manifold. The number of polio-infected children has also increased due to insecurity and difficulties in conducting anti-polio vaccination campaigns,` he said.

The new campaign would also help in ascertaining the exact number of target children, he added.

Dr Sarfaraz said that the continued campaign yielded positive results in parts of Karachi and it would be put into practice in Bara and Jamrud, which were up till now considered high risk areas in terms of security related problems in conducting the vaccination campaign and also the rising number of polio cases.

Agency Surgeon Dr Niaz Afridi told Dawn that along with oral polio vaccination, the new vaccinators were also imparted training about injectable vaccination (IPV), which was also part of the newly devised campaign.

`With Akkakhel, Shalobar, Malakdinkhel and Bar Qambarkhel mostly cleared and safe, health workers would be provided with foolproof security in the inaccessible and potentially dangerous areas of Bara,` he said.

BORDER CLOSURE: The exchange of harsh words between border guards of Pakistan and Afghanistan caused the closure of Torkham border for almost one hour.

Officials said that Afghan border guards reacted sharply and hurled abuses at their Pakistani counterparts when an Afghan national was stopped for body search on the Pakistan side of the border.

Inretallation,theKhasadar and Khyber Rifles personnel closed the border, which caused suspension of traffic from both sides alongside temporarily halting pedestrians` movement. Hundreds of vehicles and pedestrians remained stranded on both sides of the border.

The situation was brought under control and the border crossing was reopened after the intervention of officials from both sides. Correspondent