TTP operation: WHO fears spread of polio virus amidst exodus

Warning specifies 8 districts including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Dera Ismail Khan as vulnerable areas.

ISLAMABAD: The migration of tribal people affected by the ongoing military operation may result in spreading the polio virus to other parts of the country, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a warning issued to the federal and provincial governments, Express News reported on Monday.

Several children from the tribal areas have been deprived of the polio vaccine for various reasons, including the apprehensions raised by some religious leaders against the vaccine as well as targeted killings of polio workers.

In its statement, the WHO specified eight districts, including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Dera Ismail Khan, as vulnerable areas in the wake of the exodus.

The warning highlighted that in several areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, there are more than 400,000 children who have not been immunised for the past three years.

The WHO has also asked the authorities to improve sewage facilities to ensure that the virus does not spread.