Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam. PHOTO: INP/FILE
Pakistan on Thursday said the fake vaccination campaign conducted by United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ahead of the secret raid on Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound in 2011 was one of the major reasons behind the rising number of polio cases in the country.
“Dr Shakil Afridi’s fake campaign has created doubts about vaccination drives among people,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told reporters at her weekly news briefing on Thursday. “A fake campaign of vaccination was conducted in Pakistan in which the UN agencies were also used.”
Her remarks came in response to the recent international travel restrictions imposed on Pakistan by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the country’s failure to completely eradicate the polio virus.
“These are not restrictions. These are recommendations. They are called IHR regulations. This issue has been under discussion between Pakistan and WHO since 2012,” Tasnim insisted responding to the measure announced by the public health arm of the United Nations.
Pakistan is only one of three countries where the polio virus remains endemic. According to the WHO, 59 cases of polio have been reported so far in the country this year alone.
Majority of these cases have been found in the tribal areas, where the military is fighting militancy.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2014.
COMMENTS (13)
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@unbelievable: Dear unbelievable, As usual you ignored the main point, which was that Dr Shakil Afridi misused his Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, which created grave damage to Pakistan medical services. In plain language medical services are considered untrustworthy in many parts of Pakistan as a result of Dr Aftidi's unthinkable duplicity.
@observer: She isn't wrong. Shakil Afridi made things worse. Those religious extremists you talk about now get to point to Shakil Afridi and say I told you so.
@unbelievable: How much do you get paid for spouting pro-western propaganda? The Chinese are often accused of having a "50 cent army". I think the cost of labour is much too high in the west so they can only afford an army of one per site i.e. you. In the near future people like you will be out of a job. Your superiors will realize that they can outsource this sort of thing by hiring third worlders en masse on sites like freelancer. They will work for pennies on the dollar to drown sites in pro-US comments.
This FO simply treats everything as a trivial matter that can be disposed of by issuing a statement.
She is talking as if Pakistan was on the verge of eradicating polio when Shakil Afridi came along. 64 years without Shakil Afridi and CIA couldn't make pakistan polio-free that speaks volumes itself.
Afridi gave legitimate hepatitis shots in Abbottabad providing a tiny amt of blood for later DNA testing - the image of "fake vaccination" was promoted by govt and lousy reporting (including ET). Polio inoculation doesn't involve a needle or blood taking - simple drop of vaccine in the mouth. Your polio issues dominates in Tribal Territories controlled by religious extremist who were anti polio inoculation long before Afridi came on the scene. Blaming polio on the people who have paid for the polio cure is classic Pakistan - long on blather and short on facts.
Madame you are wrong,polio vaccination was not allowed in FATA and part of KP before Dr.Shakil Afridi ......religious people misguiding parents not to give polio vaccine,it will cause sterility and conspiracy to decrease muslim population ,this propaganda was not counter by the government...ET please search in old news papers,hope my comment will be published
Oh you are talking about USA? The only nation that has used atomic bombs on people to stop a war that would have been won if they waited for a few years but they preferred killing a million people? The nation alleged by its own people of having its prime intelligence agency for carrying out false flag operations. Who would give a damn to Pakistani's. Yes you contributed in their wars. Yes you made sacrifices but again, you were hiding a terrorist and your children deserve to be crippled for that! Dont you dare give excuses for wht you deserve!
All this Osama drama, which no one believes in.
Soon Mr. Shakil Afridi would be in USA leading a prosperous life once a deal is finalized between Americans and patriotic people in Pakistan
One does not need to be very bright to work out that Dr Shakil Afridi and the CIA brought the polio campaign into disrepute, but that does not stop the treasonous Doctor from being an American hero.
How does it stop govt taking action be it restrictions or recommendations?