Hindering polio drive: Three arrested for refusing drops to children

PESHAWAR: The district administration of Peshawar arrested on Wednesday three persons, who refused to get their children vaccinated during the three-day polio campaign that started on August 29.

Those who got arrested were identified as Inayatullah, Missal Khan and Awal Khan. They are residents of Takhatabad area of the city. The detained parents were sent to prison for hindering the polio teams from doing their job and refusing to vaccinate their children. The detainees will be freed after they submit a written apology and assure they would not refuse drops to their children during polio campaigns.

The three-day polio campaign kicked off in 13 most high-risk districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

It aimed to vaccinate 3.6 million children below the age of five years.

This year the country has recorded 13 polio cases. Among them, seven were from K-P, four were confirmed in Sindh and one each in Fata and Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.