EOC requests WHO, FATA administration to initiate probe. PHOTO: AFP
A seven-month-old boy’s sample was collected to be tested for polio virus when he was in Peshawar, according to the NIH sources. With this the total cases of the crippling disease reported from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) this year has reached seven while last year a total of 179 cases were reported.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the head of Emergency Operation Centre for Polio Dr Rana Safdar said the last case was reported from North Waziristan in September last year. This year the case has been reported from an area which was badly hit by militancy.
He said according to the initial information gathered about the polio victim, he did not receive a single dose of polio vaccine neither in routine immunization nor during anti-polio drives.
“It is a major cause of concern that this boy was overlooked during hujra vaccination carried out in the region after the army cleared the area and we will investigate this matter seriously,” he said.
Dr Safdar said the Emergency Operation Centre for polio has written a letter to the FATA administration and the World Health Organisation (WHO) surveillance teams to probe into the matter and find out how the boy missed being administered polio drops.
“They have also been instructed to find out whether there are more such pockets in the area where children are still inaccessible or have missed polio drops due to various reasons. It is because one missed child is a potential threat to other children over there,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2015.
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