Harassment: Polio vaccinators threatened

BAHAWALPUR: Armed men on motorcycles threatened to kill women polio vaccinators in Bana Roya near Rahim Yar Khan on Sunday. They fled when they saw an approaching police van. Police said 15 lady health workers of Taranda Muhammad Panah Rural Health Centre were travelling in an ambulance to participate in a district-wide polio immunisation campaign. They were stopped in Bana Roya by two men on motorcycles who had been following them for some time. They pulled guns at the lady health workers and threatened to kill them if they continued with the vaccination campaign. The health workers told them that they would pull out of the campaign. Meanwhile, Ghulam Abbas, the ambulance driver, called the police. The men fled when they saw a police vehicle. District Health Officer Dr Hassan Khan and the lady health workers went to the DPO and told him about the situation. The DPO assured them that they would be provided security.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2014.