More polio

The year 2013 is shaping up to be the worst in a decade or more in terms of notified cases of polio and the dream of eradication seems to be far over the horizon. This has extremely serious implications and not only at a country level, but internationally with the World Health Organisation (WHO) watching closely. It must be remembered that the WHO can issue a travel ban on the nationals of countries where polio remains endemic, a move that would have profound consequences in our case. Across much of the country, the battle seems to be won, and children are now routinely vaccinated. This has only been achieved at the cost of enormous effort, usually on the part of the unsung heroes — the vaccinators themselves, usually women, who go house to house and continue to do so even in the face of death threats. Some have been murdered.

This year there have been 43 confirmed cases with a large spike recorded in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) that account for 31 of those notified. Militant commanders in Fata and some tribal clerics have imposed a ban on polio vaccination and this, along with a host of security threats, is the reason for the disease being so prevalent. The children that have tested positive for the virus had not received vaccination in the last 10 months. There are efforts to eradicate polio and a recent drive in Bannu district saw 7,000-8,000 children vaccinated in a month. Also in Bannu, the administration of drops to every child on buses and wagons passing through security checkpoints was judged a success. Outside Fata, the threat remains and population movements are said to be threatening the polio-free status of Islamabad, which has not recorded a case since 2008. Polio workers are saying there are issues of accessibility in areas where families from Fata and Peshawar are living. Even more worryingly, there are problems of coordination between agencies battling polio, including it is said, the motorway police. We cannot afford to lose this fight.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2013.

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