Polio status

Anti-vaccinators exist by the droves in Pakistan. They continue to endanger children’s wellbeing by opposing measures that are taken to mitigate the burden on national healthcare with faulty beliefs about vaccination causing sterility or being part of a larger domestic or foreign government agenda. The important issue of polio vaccination has become a highly-politicised topic.

Polio teams have come under attack recently in four provinces in the usual manner: a discreet drive-by shooting where skilled gunmen successfully escape. A health unit in Peshawar was the setting of arson after a few children fell ill following the vaccination. The frequency of incidents in such a short span of time bolsters the fact that our security infrastructure remains in a precarious situation. Furthermore, we have failed to make headway in spreading education about polio vaccines and the detrimental conditions caused by the crippling disease. Estimates of children prohibited from receiving the anti-polio vaccine number from 400,000 to 700,000.

Only Afghanistan and Nigeria — both countries fighting heavy terrorism — are still working to eliminate polio. Pakistan, despite the strides it may have made in terms of development on the surface, continues to combat primitive opinions on polio vaccination. Polio drives commence every few months in our country but face security challenges, requiring special police support. The high-risk career of being a polio worker makes one evaluate the significance of polio drives against the value of life of vaccinators. Extra resources have to be allocated in order to execute a polio campaign. Perhaps those resources should first be applied to educating people about the necessity of the vaccine prior to life endangerment. Security teams accompanying polio workers should receive specialised training, being directly exposed to terrorists in point-blank range.

It is outrageous that protestors in Peshawar set the Basic Health Unit in Mashokhel on fire after attacking it because of rumours that children recently vaccinated fell ill due to the vaccine itself. A clear lack of education is to blame but hearsay also needs to be checked, being responsible for numerous angry mobs and resulting deaths in the past.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2019.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.