With three new cases, at least 34 have been infected with the paralysing virus

Polio has been confirmed in two 13-month olds, one 10-month-old in FATA.

PESHAWAR:

The dust had barely settled after a bomb in Garhi Mali Khel targeted law enforcement and polio workers when three more polio cases surfaced in Khyber and North Waziristan agencies on Monday.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department and FATA Secretariat Expanded Programme on  Immunisation had launched an anti-polio drive earlier in October in Peshawar and parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Even though strict security parameters were in play, anti-state elements managed to disrupt the campaign through an attack in Badhaber. Attacks like these make tragedies like the three new cases of polio in Fata all the more possible.

A FATA Secretariat EPI official confirmed the virus was detected in two children from Khyber Agency.

Husna, the daughter of Minabaz, is only 13 months old. The onset of the disease was noted on August 30, 2013, changing her life forever. Husna resides in Spin Kabar, Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency.

Another 13-month-old has also fallen victim to the paralysing virus; a resident of Qambar Khel which is also in Bara. Daud Khan’s son Uzair felt the onset of paralysis on September 10. With these two children, Khyber Agency now has 12 cases of polio, 12 people who could not be accessed by polio workers.

The third case, reported from North Waziristan Agency, is 10-month-old Nasirullah, son of Shal Afzan. September 10 also marked the onset of paralysis for Nasirullah. The family lives in Shameri, Mir Ali tehsil. This is the 11th confirmed case of polio from North Waziristan in 2013.

None of these children had ever received any polio vaccination, confirmed the official.

Militancy-hit North Waziristan has not allowed any polio immunisation drive since June 2012.

Preparing for the inevitable?

Before the start of this anti-polio drive in Peshawar, a meeting of K-P Health and Home and Tribal Affairs departments had decided on some unprecedented measures.

It was decided at least 2,000 Pakistan Qaumi Razakar (PQR) or volunteers will work alongside the polio teams and police for this polio campaign. The razakars were meant to supplement – not replace – the police force in the field. Rs14.4 million had been allocated for this purpose.

The Central Police Office (CPO) was assigned the responsibility of arranging the required security for the polio campaign, including the PQRs and police personnel from other districts. It was meant to mobilise the maximum number of police officers for the Peshawar campaign.

Another security measure decided upon at the meeting was the provision of 10 Frontier Constabulary platoons to CPO. If the CPO would identify specific needs, the Pakistan Army would step in to provide maximum security.

However, in the face of all preparations and plans, the three new cases take the number of children infected with polio to 27 in Fata and seven in K-P.

Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where polio disease still persists.

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