Polio violence

In the thick of rising polio cases and relentless vaccination campaigns, the abduction of three senior WHO officials monitoring one such campaign marks a sombre day in the journey against this fatal disease. The three officials were abducted in the Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the most recent province to report two more confirmed polio cases. While the crime has not been officially claimed by any group, the Tank district harbours a violent history of abductions and attacks by militant groups actively working to disrupt polio vaccination campaigns.

The WHO officials – including a District Surveillance Officer, a Union Council Communication Support Officer and a Union Council Polio Officer – were just about to begin a sub-national anti-polio campaign in the high-risk K-P district when they were abducted. Unfortunately, such tribal regions are not only high-risk but also high insurgency. In the past, militant groups have violently opposed anti-polio vaccination campaigns on grounds of their unfounded beliefs that vaccination programmes are either propagandist in nature or defy the will of God. Therefore, they attack, intimidate, kidnap and kill.

While Pakistani state officials have enacted several security and monitoring strategies for anti-polio campaigns, a comprehensive and formalised surveillance strategy for polio workers that is proactive in nature and focuses on detecting and preventing attacks is yet to be seen. And clearly, the appointed police force is not adequate in keeping the rebels at bay. What Pakistan needs is a strategy beyond general security deployment. It needs intelligence monitoring of security threats as well as alert systems that ensure protection no longer relies on reactive measures. The pattern of heightened security and police patrolling until after a criminal incident against polio workers must be broken. Equally, every possible resource must be mobilised to ensure a swift and safe recovery of the abducted officials.