‘Significant drop in refusal cases’

At least 2,822 children were not available for polio vaccine in provincial capital

PESHAWAR: The number of refusal cases in administering polio drops to children dropped in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in March as compared to February. Of the 25 districts, polio teams faced resistance in only six during the campaign.

These views were expressed by Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) officials at a meeting on Wednesday. The EOC officials expressed their satisfaction with ongoing efforts to eradicate the crippling virus. EOC Coordinator Akbar Khan said at the meeting that untiring efforts of polio teams led to the success of the programme. He added during the drive, a maximum number of children were reached and vaccinated.

Anti-vaxxers

He stated polio teams recorded 1,162 refusals from Peshawar, 7,744 from Swabi, 479 from Nowshera and 455 from Charsadda. Similarly, 346 refusal cases were reported from Lakki Marwat, while 345 from Bannu. Akbar added 2,822 children were not available for polio vaccine in Peshawar, 2,182 in Nowshera, 2,047 in Mansehra, 2,635 in DI Khan and some 1,646 in Abbottabad.

The EOC coordinator maintained, “Media and communication play a key role in raising public awareness about vaccine preventable diseases.” He said, “Since the mass media plan was rolled out by the government with the support of partner organisations, the level of awareness increased manifold in the province.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th,  2016.