None for the team: Parents of over 12,000 children refuse polio vaccination

PESHAWAR:

Parents of over 12,000 children refused to support the recent immunisation campaign against poliovirus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and stopped their children from getting inoculated.

A majority of the refusal cases surfaced in the provincial capital after officials dealing with polio eradication campaigns said parents of 5,740 children stopped polio workers from administering drops to their children.

The officials stated 2,316 children could not be inoculated against the crippling virus in Bannu as their parents refused polio teams in the district. They added 1,175 children could not be reached for the same reason in Lakki Marwat.

“Around 870 children were kept out of reach of polio workers in Charsadda, 590 children in Nowshera, 558 in Tank, 375 in Karak, 284 in DI Khan, 189 in Mardan, 59 in Mansehra, 46 in Kohat, 31 in Haripur, 29 in Hangu and parents of some 15 children refused administering drops to their children in Abbottabad,” an official informed The Express Tribune.

However, he said follow-up campaigns are being conduct to inoculate children whose parents had refused the polio teams.

“Teams, that include locals, will try to persuade the parents,” the official said. “However, if they continue to resist, the district administration will take action against them.”

The national immunisation drive began on March 14. The aim was to inoculate around 5,586,250 children during the campaign.

However, the campaign was not carried out in Swabi due to security concerns. In addition, children in at least 10 union councils in Chitral were also not immunised due to snowfall. Plans for a campaign to be held in Swabi are in the pipeline.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2016.