Peril in Peshawar

In the latest manifestation of insanity in our country, two young female polio workers, aged 18 and 20 years, were shot by motorcyclists as they administered polio drops on the outskirts of Peshawar. Sharafata died on the spot, becoming the third polio vaccinator to be killed in Peshawar and the tenth in the country. Her colleague, Sumbul, is reported to be in a critical condition in hospital. The polio drive in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa capital was called off after the incident, with the WHO pulling out its teams and the local administration saying new dates would be announced shortly for the resumption of the campaign.

There have been no claims of responsibility, but suspicion naturally enough revolves around the Taliban, which in the past have threatened and attacked polio vaccinators and their police escorts. The latest shooting is, of course, a tragedy for the victims, but also for children who will remain deprived of a vaccine that could prevent a potentially crippling disease. Pakistan remains one of only three polio endemic countries in the world — Nigeria and Afghanistan being the other two. Its efforts to eradicate the disease have been held back by multiple issues, including the militant campaign which has forced drives to be halted.

The incoming central and provincial governments will need to take on the challenge of ensuring that children are inoculated. The militants must be prevented from placing them at such risk. It is clear that no amount of security can keep vaccinators safe. Already, many trained health workers are — for reasons we can well understand — refusing to go into the field. The drive-by shooting in Peshawar will simply add to the numbers reluctant to administer drops and further hamper campaigns even as authorities ponder when it may be possible to resume them. We must find a way to end the killing of persons doing good work for others and remove the sense of fear that now hangs over the polio drive and the effort to eradicate a disease which has been wiped off much of the globe.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2013.