Polio workers continue drive

The drive continued in rural areas of Sindh and parts of Karachi.

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI: Tuesday’s attack on a polio team in Qayyumabad in Karachi failed to dampen the spirit of some polio workers as the drive continued partially in parts of Sindh, including some areas in Karachi on Wednesday.

However, this time round, the workers wore black armbands, to register their protest. “We will not deter after this cowardly attack and continue the campaign as it is a humanitarian cause,” said Lady Health Workers’ Association president Bushra Arain. Referring to a recent meeting with officials of the health department and the police, she said a security plan was being devised after which they will also cover ‘highly sensitive’ areas of Karachi.

“We will not succumb to the threats and attacks,” she said, adding that before going to the field, the lady health workers (LHWs) and volunteers had staged a 10-minute protest in front of the basic health centres and hospitals of their areas.

Across the districts of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions, the LHWs took to the streets against the killing of their three co-workers in Karachi. The routine polio eradication campaign, which had started on Monday, was partially suspended.

The sit-ins were staged in Hyderabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Thatta, Badin, Benazirabad and other districts. “Our LHWs were killed with impunity, but the government has failed to provide us with security,” complained Rukhsana Mughal, who was leading a sit-in outside the SSP Office in Hyderabad.

“It’s not about the government or the politicians. The lives of innocent children are at stake,” said district health officer Dr Ghulam Mustafa Abbasi. “Provide us foolproof security and give us our unpaid salaries,” asked the LHWs. “The workers will not continue the campaign until complete security is provided and the killers are arrested,” declared All Pakistan LHW Employees Association central president Haleema Laghari at a protest, which she led in Tando Allahyar district.

Meanwhile, the 28-year-old, Akbari Shaikh, who is one of the three workers killed in Karachi, was laid to rest in a graveyard in Husri town’s Sarmast Colony in Hyderabad Rural. “I only want that the killers of my wife and all polio workers are arrested so that innocent children are not deprived of the vaccination,” said her husband, Jumman Shaikh. On the other hand, the government has announced that it will speed up the anti-polio campaign in the province amid tight security measures. “We will not deter because of such attacks,” said Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon.

Sindh health secretary Iqbal Durrani said that a security plan has been made. He added that the immunisation drive continued in some parts of Karachi on Wednesday. It will resume completely on January 23, provided the workers are given proper security.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2014.