Fight against polio

There's an urgent need to work against superstition & mistrust among the general public against anti-polio vaccination

After the launch of the anti-polio campaign in 1994, the incidence of polio in Pakistan had shown a significant decline — from 20,000 in the early 1990s to just four in 2017. The current year, however, has come as a setback in the fight against the crippling disease. This year a spike has been recorded in the incidence of poliovirus. The number of polio cases reported from across the country during the ongoing year is 53, including 41 from Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) alone. Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken serious notice of this increase and has decided to lead the anti-polio campaign himself.

Possibly a toxic campaign carried out on social media by misguided elements has impacted the battle against the disease. There is also mistrust among the general public — particularly in the tribal areas of the country — against anti-polio vaccination. Anti-national elements have long been carrying out a sustained campaign against the Expanded Programme of Immunisation. It is a measure of insensitivity to children’s health that recently some traders — belonging to district Bannu of K-P — had threatened to boycott the upcoming immunisation campaign unless sales tax was withdrawn. The government has warned such elements that attempt to obstruct immunisation drives will not be tolerated.

At a high-level meeting presided over by the Prime Minister in Islamabad on August 21, important decisions were taken to intensify the polio immunisation campaign. The meeting was told that to avoid vaccination, parents themselves marked the fingers of their children. On the occasion, an official asked the prime minister to issue an executive order that DCs should not register an FIR in case of refusal by parents because it further increases refusals.

Polio is a viral disease and it spreads due to unsanitary conditions. There is no cure for the disease, but it is preventable. The state of sanitation in different parts of the country is, however, highly unsatisfactory. Moreover, there is an urgent need to work against superstition. It assumes an added significance in a country where more people stop when they see cats crossing their path than those who stop at traffic signals.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2019.

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