Guwahati: Assam is set to launch one of its biggest public health campaigns on Sunday as part of National Immunisation Day, targeting nearly 45 lakh children aged 0-5 for polio vaccination across all districts. In Greater Guwahati, around two lakh children in the age group have been identified to receive the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV).To ensure every eligible child is covered, the state health department has planned vaccination teams for difficult hilly and and hard-to-reach areas and deployed mobile units to to access remote locations. Officials said the campaign in Greater Guwahati will be among the largest immunisation drives in the state.National Immunisation Day, also known as Polio Sunday, remains a crucial public health initiative to ensure that every child below five receives the OPV in addition to doses under the routine immunisation schedule.According to the health department, in Kamrup (Metro) district, 860 polio booths have been set up, including 662 general booths, 25 difficult booths, 72 institutional booths and 64 transit booths. The district has also deployed 37 mobile teams.For the smooth conduct of the programme, 51 medical officers, 3,222 booth workers, and 172 booth supervisors have been engaged in Kamrup (Metro) district.“On Sunday, polio vaccines will be administered at all designated polio booths in the district. Children who are unable to visit the booths or miss vaccination on the first day will be covered through house-to-house visits by health workers on June 29 and 30,” an official said.Although India was declared polio-free more than a decade ago, the country continues to carry out intensive immunisation campaigns to prevent the risk of poliovirus transmission and importation.Across Assam, nearly 24,000 polio vaccination booths will operate on Sunday.“Mobile teams will also visit transit points such as bus stations, marketplaces, brick kilns, and urban slum areas to vaccinate children who may have missed receiving the oral polio vaccine on the first day,” an official said.Around 92,000 health officials, frontline workers, and support staff will participate in the three-day campaign. Personnel from the school education department and the women and child development department will also assist in implementation of the immunisation drive across the state.
