PESHAWAR: The World Polio Day was observed on Saturday in Pakistan and rest of the world.

A number of seminars, walks and other awareness sessions were organised in Pakistan to create awareness among the people about the crippling disease.

The main event in this regard was organised at the Zero Point of Pak-Afghan border in Torkham where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province Governor Ziaul Haq Amarkhel inaugurated the vaccination campaign by administering polio drops to children below the age of five years.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Sector Commander Brigadier Shaukat Rana, Commandant Khyber Rifles Colonel Rizwan Nazir, Deputy Commissioner Khyber Mehmood Aslam Wazir, UNICEF and Health Department officials and officials and tribal elders from both sides of the border attended the function.

On the occasion, Shah Farman and Ziaul Haq Amarkhel vowed that Pakistan and Afghanistan would wage a joint struggle to defeat polio.

Shah Farman said the people of both the countries share common religion, culture and traditions. He said Pakistan will benefit the most from the restoration of peace in Afghanistan. He said that a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan.

The governor said the huge gathering of Pakistani and Afghan officials and people for a common cause is a clear message to the world that both countries are committed to eradicate polio from the region. He said eradication of polio is must to ensure healthy future for our coming generations. He said that children cannot be left at the mercy of diseases, and the government will take every step to protect them.

In his address, Ziaul Haq Amarkhel said Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the region where poliovirus could not be eradicated completely. He said Afghanistan would spare no effort to defeat polio. The Nangarhar governor said Pakistan and Afghanistan should jointly work in different fields to resolve the problems being faced by the people. He said the governments and citizens of Pakistan and Afghanistan face embarrassment as unlike other parts of the world, these two countries have not succeeded in completely eradicating polio. He said health-related issues must not be politicised.

Taimur Saleem Jhagra and polio programme officials also spoke on the occasion.