As many as 5.43 lakh of the 6.5 lakh children below the age of five were on Sunday administered polio drops as part of Pulse Polio immunisation drive in the areas coming under the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike in the city. With this, the city achieved 83.56 per cent coverage in 135 wards covered by the BBMP.
Officials from the BBMP’s Health Department said they would ensure that the remaining children were administered polio drops during house-to-house visits between Monday and Wednesday.
Pulse Polio kiosks were set up at hospitals, Primary Health Centres, railway stations and bus-stands. Several mobile vans were set up to ensure that migrant and high-risk population were covered. Besides doctors and paramedical staff, students from nursing colleges and members of Rotary Club participated in the drive.
Manjula G., a 4th year nursing student who was at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, said she had administered polio drops to around 100 children on Sunday.
“Only a few people from the adjoining areas turned up. However, we will be going on house-to-house visits on Monday to ensure that every child in the locality is administered polio drops,” she said.
Kumari S., a tailor who lives in R.T. Nagar, was seen at Shivajinagar bus-stand getting polio drops administered to her five-year-old daughter Sonia S., after an autorickshaw driver remined her to ensure that her child received her two essential drops.
V. Sudhamani, a nurse at Yellamma Dasappa hospital who was one of the camp supervisors, said that there were three teams at the Shivajinagar bus-stand.
As many as 8,376 people were deployed in 2,094 booths for the drive in the city.
The second round of the Pulse Polio campaign will be conducted on February 23.
Other areasMeanwhile, the Health Department which covers the 63 Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike wards as well as south, east, north and Anekal taluk has recorded 84.57 per cent coverage as 4.74 lakh of the 5.61 lakh children below five years have been administered polio drops.
While officials will carry out house-to-house visits in rural areas for two days, it will be done for three days in urban areas.
