Polio campaigner slain in Gadap

WHO says slain man was community health worker.

KARACHI:

A man who worked on the polio campaign was killed in firing by unidentified men near Al Asif Square, Gadap Town, in Karachi at 8:40 pm.

The World Health Organisation has denied that Ishaq, whose full name could not be confirmed, worked for the agency.

Maryam Yunus, the official spokesperson of the WHO, said that Ishaq was a community health worker. However, she confirmed that he was part of the anti-polio campaign.

He was a Union Council Polio Worker, which is a technical job where local workers are in charge of running health campaigns in different areas.

“Since he was on contract, he cannot be called a staff of WHO or the United Nations,” Maryum clarified. “We condemn the attack on our workers, it is a setback for the entire polio campaign,” she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2012.