A Reuters file photo of a child receiving polio drops.
Gunmen killed at least two policemen in an attack on a polio vaccination security team in Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Wednesday.
The policemen were part of a nationwide drive launched this week to inoculate tens of millions of children in Pakistan – one of only two countries where the crippling disease remains endemic.
“The incident took place in Maidan area of the city. The policemen were on their way to a basic health unit when they were targeted," said Lower Dir Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Saeedur Rehman.
“No officials from the polio vaccination team were hurt as they were at a distance. However, the suspects managed to escape from the scene,” Rehman added.
He said security forces later launched a search operation in the areas to find those responsible for the deaths. According to another police official Arif Shahbaz, two men riding a motorbike carried out the attack at the Lal Qila area, which is near the border with Afghanistan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Wednesday’s killings.
The attack comes during a devastating year in Pakistan’s long fight against the disease, with at least 104 cases reported in 2019 so far. Last year, just 12 cases were reported.
Vaccination campaigns have faced stubborn resistance for years in Pakistan, with many refusing to have their children inoculated because of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
But as the country tries to reach its goal of eliminating polio from its territory, a new challenge has emerged in the form of a growing global movement against vaccinations.
The phenomenon has attracted adherents worldwide, fuelled by medically baseless claims and proliferated by social media resulting in a resurgence of once-eradicated, highly-contagious diseases.
Wednesday marks the third day of the five-day polio campaign currently under way in the country.
Around 22,925 teams have been constituted to vaccinate 6.75 million children below the age of five. The campaign is focused on reaching and vaccinating every child in order to stop the transmission of the virus as well as its outbreak in the region.
Polio cases surge to 104
The total number of polio cases in Pakistan has surged to 104 during the current year. Pakistan is among a handful of countries that are still battling the disease which has been widely eradicated.
In a recent report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicted Pakistan as a polio-endemic state in 2020 as well. The WHO report states that increased instances of polio cases in Pakistan in 2019 as compared to 2017 and 2018 highlights the continued geographic spread of the virus.
"The gaps in strategic implementation of vaccination activities in Pakistan means that there is a high likelihood that the number of cases will continue to increase and that transmission will continue well into 2020," read the report.
Polio team manhandled, looted
A polio team was deprived of its valuables at gunpoint on Zarkhail road, some five kilometers from New Faujdari police station of Sindh’s Shikarpur district on Wednesday.
The eleven-member team was on its way to Jangi Khan Brohi village from Shikarpur in a van to administer polio drops to the children when armed men stopped it, tortured the members and deprived them of 11 mobile phones, ID cards, jackets, cash and other valuables at gunpoint.
The outlaws disappeared from the spot after the swift operation. Shikarpur District Health Officer Dr Shabeer Ahmed Shaikh and SSP Dr Rizwan Ahmed rushed to the scene and assured the staff of recovering the looted items.
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES
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