Govt to expand Polio drive to cover children up to age 15: Mustafa Kamal

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to give polio vaccine to children up to 15 years of age, according to Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal.

Kamal, while talking to a private TV channel, added that after polio cases were reported in children above the age of five, it has been decided to give polio vaccine to children up to 15 years of age to completely eradicate polio.

He further said that initially, 15-year-old children will be included in the anti-polio campaign in Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The new deadline for the complete eradication of polio from Pakistan is December 2026.

He said that after three months, every medicine sold across the country will have a barcode, and every citizen will be able to check the authenticity of the medicine and its expiration date on their mobile phones by scanning the barcode.

He added that our preparations are complete, and the industry has asked for three months to put barcodes on the medicines sold.

The Federal Health Minister said that fundamental changes are being made in the new national health policy, and the Prime Minister will soon approve the new health policy.

DRAP is being digitalized and the Prime Minister will formally inaugurate the project a week later.

He said that in view of the health of the common man, a proposal was made to impose a 50 percent tax on beverages, but the government did not accept it.

The Federal Minister said that the entire law of the Nursing Council is being changed, there is a need for 0.9 million nurses in the country and 2.5 million nurses worldwide, which is being met with revolutionary steps.