Mardan at high-risk as parents refuse to vaccinate children

Peshawar records second highest number of refusals – 3,856.

PESHAWAR:

Mardan is becoming a major threat in terms of polio eradication efforts as parents of 8,495 children refused to administer polio vaccination in November’s immunisation campaign in the district.

Data revealed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department shows 28,731 refusals from the province in the November campaign. A list from the provincial control room’s data for November recorded the number of refusals based on a three-day drive conducted from November 18 to November 20.



According to the district lists, Peshawar emerged as the second district where 3,856 refusals were recorded. Similarly Nowshera had 3,499 refusals, Bannu 3,460, Abbottabad 490, Battagram 47, Buner 18, Charsadda 1,006, two each in Chitral and Upper Dir, DI Khan 648 refusals, Lower Dir 26, Hangu 204, Karak 1,432, Kohat 1,269, five in Kohistan, Lakki Marwat 2,820, Manshera 706 refusals, Swat 217, nine in Tank while 141 refusals were reported from Torghar district.

The data showed no refusals in Haripur, Malakand, Shangla and Swabi.

Mardan DHO Dr Qasim told The Express Tribune three rounds of polio vaccinations had been conducted since he took charge four months ago. He claimed they had been successful in reducing the number of refusal cases from 10,000 after the district administration chalked out a strategy to eliminate the number of refusals in hotspot areas including Mohib Banda, Rustam and some areas of Shergarh.

Dr Qasim added they held awareness and social mobilisation meetings with elders of these areas in collaboration with the local religious clerics.

Responding to a query, he said due to misconceptions about polio drives, residents were frustrated with the regular vaccination campaigns and often refused. Dr Qasim stressed the immunisation strategy needed to be altered as people were fed up with repeated campaigns.

He furher added the district administration had issued warrants against some people in troubled spots and this had decreased the ratio of refusals.

According to Qasim the target in the last immunisation drive was 160,000 children and he termed the refusals recorded as acceptable, adding covering more areas will help get rid of the refusals. He shared the coverage ratio was 85% in the district before he took charge and now it had increased to 91%.

According to official figures, out of the 63 polio cases recorded across the country this year, nine are from K-P. The highest number of cases, 43, has been reported from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, six from Punjab and five from Sindh. The last reported polio case was from Sahiwal, Punjab on November 12.

Since more than 119,580 children are at risk in K-P, the provincial health department and World Health Organisation (WHO) are set to strengthen Union Councils Polio Eradication Committees at district levels in 2014.

According to Dr Kalimullah Khan, communication officer of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), central regions, including Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda and Peshawar, fall under the high-risk districts category followed by Lakki Marwat in southern K-P. “We are training communication staff before launching vaccination drives to dispel misconceptions in order to alleviate the increasing trend of refusals,” he said.

While Khan agreed with Mardan DHO’s point of view about polio drive fatigue, he said the authorities had no other options to control the disease in these areas. He added the nature of refusals was driven by a number of factors and they will be thoroughly checked in order to control the dangerous trend of parents refusing to vaccinate children.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2013.