Anti-polio drive: FATA, K-P at greater risk

Residents complained about reluctance of mobile vaccination teams to visit every home, especially in high-risk areas

ISLAMABAD:

Health authorities have been asked to ensure 100 per cent coverage of children in polio immunisation drives in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Residents of these areas complained about the reluctance of mobile vaccination teams to visit every home, especially in high-risk areas.

Defining polio as a national emergency, health authorities said issues must be urgently addressed to ensure the government was fully engaged in eradicating polio, particularly in Fata, which has been severely affected by the ongoing militancy.

They said it was high time that children were consistently immunised in the districts and agencies that are at greatest risk of being infected by the virus. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2012.