The battle continues: Fourth round of immunisation kicks off in Bara

Families of deceased and injured khasadar and levies officials compensated.


Our Correspondents May 16, 2014
Families of deceased and injured khasadar and levies officials compensated. PHOTO: PPI

PESHAWAR/ BARA/ JAMRUD:


The Prime Minister’s Polio Cell confirmed another case from Bara, Khyber Agency, a day before the fourth round of immunisation kicked off in the tehsil.


The laboratory test confirmed Mir Fayaz, a 27-month-old child, son of Hussain and resident of Milward, Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency to be affected by poliovirus type 1. The official added that the victim has received no dose of polio vaccines as the campaign could not be held in the area due to security threats.

With the emergence of this case, the total number of polio cases nationwide has reached 62 in 2014. Fata has 48 cases, 41 of which are from North Waziristan, four from South Waziristan, two from Khyber Agency and one from Frontier Region Bannu.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has five cases from Bannu and four from Peshawar district. The province of Sindh has a total number of five polio cases in this year.

The fourth phase of the polio immunisation campaign started in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Thursday.

Officials of the Khyber Agency political administration, security forces, health department and the World Health Organization initiated the campaign in the Malikdin Khel area of the tehsil. Announcements were made through loudspeakers to inform people about the drive.

A security forces official said around 15 teams were taking part in the drive to vaccinate children in various areas of the tehsil under strict security arrangements. Another official said teams were instructed to immunise all children, ranging from newborns to 10-year-olds. He informed that in 2013, around 140,295 children were immunised in seven phases of the polio drive. In the ongoing year, he said, it was expected that 127,108 children would be vaccinated by the end of the fourth phase, with around 35,000 to 40,000 children in each phase.

The imam of Jamia Masjid in Bara, Maulana Sohbat Khan, said it was not possible for any religion to stop people from saving their children from being handicapped. Sohbat said he himself had also gotten his children vaccinated against the crippling disease and appealed to people to protect their children with timely immunisation.

Families of deceased security officials compensated

The heirs of deceased khasadar and levies officials, deployed to protect polio teams in Khyber Agency, were compensated on Thursday. Ten security officials were killed and five injured in a blast in Lashora, Jamrud on March 1, 2014.

A ceremony in this regard was held at Khyber House, which was attended by MNAs Shahjee Gul and Haji Nasir Khan Afridi, along with officials of the political administration. A total of Rs29.75 million was distributed among the victims’ family members.

Family members of the two khasadars were given Rs5m each, while Rs3m was given to the family members of levies officials. The five injured victims of the incident were given Rs150,000 each.

Talking to the media, Haji Pervaiz, father of deceased Taufiq Afridi, said his son was killed in the explosion and they had received compensation, thanking the government for their help.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2014.

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