KARACHI: A three-day anti-polio drive will start in Sindh from Monday (today). This will be the first anti-polio vaccination drive of the year. According to Emergency Operation Centre for Polio (EOC), Sindh, statement, about 8.4 million children below the age of five would be administered against polio virus during the campaign. “Out of 8.4 million, 2.2 million children will be vaccinated in 188 union councils of Karachi while the rest of the 6.2 million will be administered vaccine in other districts of Sindh,” the statement said. It said that in Karachi at least 5000 police personnel will be deployed for security of more than 12000 polio workers. EOC Sindh Coordinator Fayaz Jatoi said that there has been drastic improvement in the program during the last few years with polio cases reducing from 306 in 2014 to 8 in 2016. “Our goal is to reach zero case and for this we must not only maintain improvement but also actively work to overcome the challenge,” Jatoi added. Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Department Mir Mumtaz Hussain Jakhrani has directed all the district population officers, medical officers, reproductive health services centers (RHS) along with field staff to extend their full cooperation to the health department for the polio eradication campaign. He claimed that the mission of “Polio-free Pakistan” would soon be achieved through collective efforts.