Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Pulse polio round on December 21

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first round of the Intensive Pulse Polio Immunisation (IPPI) drive 2008-09 will be held on December 21. The second round has been fixed for February 1.

The district-level health action council met at the Collectorate on Wednesday to discuss the preparations and planning required for the smooth conduct of the IPPI programme in the district.

District Medical Officer Kumari G. Prema, district programme manager of Arogyakeralam (NRHM) G. Sunil Kumar, heads of various government departments, block development officers, medical officers of various block PHCs, representatives of voluntary organisations and the Federation of Residents’ Associations participated in the meeting. The meeting was chaired by ADM Sivarajan Nair. The polio immunisation programme will target around three lakh children below five years of age in the district. The district will have 2,467 booths to administer the vaccine.

The meeting decided to intensify the training given to volunteers and to take necessary steps to ensure adequate public participation and publicity campaigns. Committees will be set up at the ward, grama/block panchayat, district-levels to coordinate the conduct of the IPPI drive. It was also decided to entrust the evaluation of the programme to the Community Medicine Department at the Medical College Hospital.

The polio immunisation drive within the Corporation limits will be executed through 519 booths, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said.

Mop-up rounds will be held on December 22 and 23 with the cooperation of the Corporation, district medical office and the district NRHM unit. The number of children under five years of age in the Corporation area has been put at 64,813. Training programmes for health inspectors, health supervisors and polio vaccinators will be conducted next week.

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