Fighting polio in FATA: PTI office-bearers to help broaden immunisation base

Party leaders list strategies, underline existing problems in addressing polio.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is committed to negotiating with opponents of the polio-vaccination programme in Waziristan through their local office bearers, once elected after the intraparty elections.

This was announced by the members of PTI Manifesto Committee during a briefing on ‘Enhancing the Effectiveness of Anti-Polio’ held at the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) on Friday.

Committee members said the PTI has gained popularity in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and will take full advantage of this so its office bearers can take steps to negotiate with opponents of the vaccination programme, including educating them about the importance of vaccinating their children against the crippling disease and clearing misconceptions about the vaccine.

“Pakistan can never ever eradicate polio from the country without working at grassroots level, no matter how much it receives from international donors for the cause,” they said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Manifesto Committee Chairman Firdous Shamim Naqvi said polio eradication is a very serious issue, but in the last five years it was not dealt with seriously, which is clearly reflected through the number of cases reported from major cities like Karachi.

“This year, five polio cases have been reported in Pakistan, which is a matter of shame and embarrassment for the country. Besides this, people working for the cause are being brutally murdered,” he said.

Naqvi said it is true that inaccessibility for polio vaccinators in conflict-ridden areas is one of the major challenges for Pakistan in eradicating polio. However, the issue could be resolved through proper negotiations and by educating local communities, especially women.

There is a need to educate people in FATA that while drone attacks are killing them, polio is more powerful than drones and it is killing their future generations by paralysing them, he said.

PTI Central Executive Committee Member Dr Humayun Mohmand, who is also the health spokesperson, said, “Poor sanitation along with malnutrition is one of the major causes behind the spread of polio virus but sadly these areas always remain neglected by all the governments.”

The party also assured high ranking officials of World Health Organisation(WHO) and  United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  that it is committed to negotiate with Taliban leadership led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur who are opponents of Polio-Vaccination Programme in Waziristan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2013.