Inoculation campaign: Ulema urge communities to cooperate with vaccinators

Events held around capital to mark World Polio Day

ISLAMABAD: International and local Islamic scholars Monday urged religious leaders and communities to protect and cooperate with polio vaccination teams.

That call came as Pakistan observed World Polio Day on Monday with a number of events being held in
the capital.

The Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (IAG), a partnership made up of Al Azhar Al Sharif, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Islamic Development Bank, along with other religious scholars, technical experts, and academics, expressed their appreciation and extended support to health workers, particularly those who put their lives at risk in order to fulfill their duties towards our children.

In a statement, the advisory group renewed its call to all parents to step forward and vaccinate their children against this debilitating but preventable disease, especially those under five who have not been vaccinated before.

“It is parents’ religious obligation to do so; ignoring this might leave these children paralysed for life.”

On Monday morning, a moot on polio was held by Rotary International, one of the global partners in the national immunisation campaign.

Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio, paid tribute to health workers. She noted that they had made progress against the disease but eradication still remains a top national priority. Later in the day, school children in the capital held an awareness walk.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2016.