ISLAMABAD: Minister for Health, Sherry Rehman Saturday emphasized that public commitment to the national immunization campaign is critical to the government’s efforts for eradication of polio disease.

“All of us have to play our role to turn the dream of a polio free Pakistan into reality,” she said after administering polio drops to children at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a day before the launch of the national polio immunization campaign from October 13 to 15.

“We need public support in our objective of a polio-free Pakistan. This is a joint effort and all of us have an obligation to protect the future of our children,” she said.

“We need the public to understand and respond to the significance of the campaign which is tied to the future of our children and nobody can afford to take that lightly,” Sherry told journalists.

The Minister said healthy children are an asset for the nation and can play an effective role for the country’s future.

Sherry Rehman said the national campaign against polio reminds of the supreme objective of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and added Ministry of Health is working on all levels to address the issue of rise in polio cases.

She informed that with recently reported cases of polio, the number of children affected by the polio virus stands at 75 across the country, out of which Punjab and Sindh has 18 and 16 cases respectively while Balochistan and Islamabad have seven each.