Telangana intensifies pulse campaign against polio, aims to cover 17.56 lakh children in six districts

Hyderabad District Collector Hari Chandana Dasari administered the polio vaccine to children, initiating the Pulse Polio campaign in the city on Sunday at the Housing Board Colony in Bagh Lingampally and the Urban Primary Health Center (UPHC) in Tilak Nagar.

“Our team has generated enough awareness in and around UPHC to encourage as many parents as possible to bring their children for vaccination,” said Deepthi, a doctor at UPHC.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has identified 290 districts across India for this special campaign from October 12 to 15. In Telangana, the campaign is being conducted in six districts: Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, Sangareddy, Hanamkonda and Warangal. The Health department estimates that approximately 17.56 lakh children under the age of five live in these districts.

In Hyderabad district, the campaign targets 5.17 lakh children under five years of age, covering 9.36 lakh families through 2,636 vaccination centers. Nearly 10,635 employees including doctors, nurses and ASHA workers have been deployed to ensure smooth execution of the campaign. Additionally, 50 transit points have been installed at important locations such as Secunderabad, Nampally and Kacheguda railway stations, Ameerpet metro station and MGBS and JBS bus stands. These centers will be open 24 hours a day until midnight on October 14th.

“We have identified 164 high-risk areas across the district, including construction sites, urban slums, deprived localities and nomadic settlements. Teams have been deployed to ensure that all eligible children are covered,” said Hyderabad District Medical and Health Officer J. Venkati.

Telangana last reported a case in Nalgonda district in 2007, while Hyderabad’s last case dates back to 1998. Since 2016, the city has transitioned from the trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to the bivalent version (bOPV) and has also introduced inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), said Ms.