Defying tradition and life threats for a cause

Female workers play a key role in the mission for polio-free Pakistan

QUETTA: Despite the life threats and mounting traditional compulsions and family pressures, female anti-polio workers remain steadfast in their struggle against polio in Balochistan.

Mahrosh Bibi, a resident of Quetta, had been a part of the anti-polio campaigns for the last seven years. She participated in the anti-polio campaign in Quetta as well as Peshawar.

“Being a mother of three sons, I can understand the pain of a woman whose children are infected with the polio virus,” she said, priding herself on being a part of the mission to make Pakistan polio-free.

According to Bibi, there are some communities in the province that are bitterly against the idea of women stepping out of their homes for work.

“I believe female workers are better suited for anti-polio campaigns because they are allowed inside the home – as against male workers – to administer the vaccine,” she added.

The successive anti-polio campaigns in the province have been adversely affected due to the increase in terrorist attacks over the last decade. The attacks resulted in the death of dozens of polio workers, including female volunteers.

Hassan Shah, a resident of Quetta, lost his sister Sakeena and niece Bibi Rizwana during one such attack on polio workers on the outskirts of the city.

“Our family never stopped them from participating in the anti-polio campaign because they were part of the people involved in protecting the future of Pakistan,” he said.

Shah and his family are proud of the sacrifice Sakeena and Rizwana gave for a greater cause, but they call upon the provincial government to provide more security for polio workers.

At least six female polio workers have lost their lives in two separate firing incidents in Quetta during the last four years. Moreover, about a dozen people were killed in a suicide attack outside a polio vaccination centre in Quetta in January 2016.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the polio virus is still active. A total of six new polio cases had surfaced in the country this year. Of them, three belong to Balochistan.