Health hazards: Anti-polio drive to begin in FATA on Jan 14

PESHAWAR:

A three-day anti-polio campaign will begin from January 14 in five agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). However, it will not be carried out in North and South Waziristan.

An official of the Fata Expanded Immunisation Programme on said that a total of 20,000 teams have been constituted to administer vaccination to over 0.7 million children.

He added that around 0.2 million children will not be immunised in North and South Waziristan agencies due to the ban imposed on vaccination teams by the Taliban.

Twenty polio cases were reported in Fata last year, while Hajiz Gul Bahadur and late Mullah Nazir, banned polio teams in their respective agencies in June last year.

Health workers have repeatedly come under attack in various parts of Pakistan for taking part in the vaccination drives. Seven workers were shot dead in an attack that was believed to be conducted by militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2013.