The deputy commissioner of Hyderabad has announced fines for parents who refuse to vaccinate their children against polio.
According to a notification, Deputy Commissioner Tariq Qureshi can impose fines under Section 1. In addition to fines, parents who refuse polio vaccination for their children may face jail time.
The notification stated that such parents would be fined Rs. 50,000 and imprisoned for one month. The Deputy Commissioner urged the public to support the government’s efforts to eradicate polio by vaccinating their children.
It is worth noting that a nationwide vaccination campaign to protect more than 24 million children under the age of five from poliovirus began yesterday.
During the campaign, children will be immunised in Islamabad, 10 districts of Punjab, 24 districts of Sindh, 26 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 30 districts of Balochistan.
Poliovirus has been detected in multiple sewage samples across the country in recent months, according to the Prime Minister’s Coordinator for National Health Services, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath. He added that polio can only be prevented by administering polio drops to children.
To read our blog on “3rd Polio case reported in Pakistan this year in KP province,” click here
