QUETTA: Over 2.6 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops under the week-long polio drive beginning in Balochistan from April 21.

According to Inam-ul-Haq, the Coordinator of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Balochistan, all preparations have been made for the campaign. Under the drive, he said, over 11,000 teams will participate which include 9,128 mobile teams, 920 fixed-site teams, and 586 transit point teams.

Stressing the urgency of the campaign, Mr Haq noted that poliovirus is still present in the environment.He appealed to parents to ensure their children receive polio drops as well as all routine vaccination, to protect them from polio and other life-threatening diseases such as measles and pneumonia.

`If parents fail to vaccinate their children, the virus could cause lifelong paralysis,` he warned and appealed to heads of families not to risk their children`s health.

He stressed that all children under the age of five must be vaccinated during the campaign.

Mr Haq called on civil society, teachers, and religious leaders to support the campaign and help raise awareness about the disease.

He said that security will be provided to all members of the teams involved in the drive to ensure safe and smooth execution of the task.