UNICEF-SAMAA Polio Campaign - filing from New York in Urdu

Description: SAMAA TV Pakistan's Constructive Innovation Journalism Initiatives. SAMAA TV has initiated the FIRST public-private partnership with UNICEF Pakistan and the Ministry of Health to position MEDIA as the watchdog on healthcare delivery services. This partnership is in particular focusing on the polio eradication campaigns, which has become a national cause and is now being adopted by other public as well as private television channels. The Polio Control Cell aims at bridging the gaps between the field teams and the missed out children all over Pakistan by providing the parents a common contact through which they can make complaints if the field teams do not reach their homes. This control cell aims at providing 100% immunization coverage for all children in Pakistan. The cell also disseminate information related to Government health initiatives and carry out awareness campaigns and ensures coordinated efforts between Polio Control Cell, Health EDOs across Pakistan and 75000 polio vaccination team members. The Polio Control Cell has provided a platform for the health authorities to reach out to the most vulnerable communities and include every child below 5 years in the national polio vaccination programme. Since its inception in October 2008, more than 27000 complaints were recorded and managed by the television channels resulting in vaccinating 22000 children, who otherwise would have been left unvaccinated, hence resulting in the re-emergence of the Polio virus in the