There was a clamour of protesting statements right from the grassroots level to the Parliament of the country when Pakistan was fettered with travel restrictions after a failure to curb the spread of polio virus. Five months since then, the battle against polio has just gotten worse with the number of polio cases throughout the country now at a towering 146 cases and still counting.
Experts fear that the cases this year will rise beyond 200, a statistic that does not come without implications. One hundred and ninety-nine cases of polio were reported in the year 2000 and since then, there has been a significant decrease in the number of cases till 2011 when the graph shot up, and now we find ourselves in a situation where an entire campaign after 14 years has come down to nothing. Even worse, cases of polio keep sprouting up on a weekly basis at a time when there is a polio emergency within the country.
There have been a reported 23 cases of polio in this month alone. The largest number of cases has been reported from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and it is no surprise that the majority of these cases from the tribal belt are from North Waziristan, while Khyber Agency is following up fast. Both areas have been in conflict and have witnessed large scale enforced migrations in the recent months. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is in second place with 25 cases followed by 11 cases in Sindh, one in Punjab and two in Balochistan. While the cases from Fata are mostly those children who have not received a single dose of polio vaccination, the one from elsewhere have had a history of irregular immunisation.
The usual discourse of the polio campaign includes the TTP’s prohibition towards administering vaccines in the Waziristan agencies and the continuous targeted attacks against vaccination teams but the security parameters are not the only markers that have affected the results of the vaccination drive. While a larger population from North Waziristan remains in accessible areas, there seems to be little effort to make up for time lost.
The minister of state for health has already stated in Parliament that one main reason for the entire collapse of the system is that the provinces lied about the results of the vaccination drive. After the Eighteen Amendment, under which health is a provincial subject, polio still remains under the ambit of the vertical projects governed by the federal government as well as the provinces. There is the prime minister polio cell, the chief minister’s polio cell as well the international organisations who are supposed to work with the government have their own independent setup.
The solution for the polio campaign is that the government should admit its failure and the entire structure which has failed to deliver should now be revamped. Polio in Pakistan is not just viewed as a disease but it is now a larger political issue having global significance. Over the years, millions of dollars have been poured into the campaign but have failed to produce the desired result, the advantage has now become a liability. If the government cannot guarantee successful anti-polio drives, the programme should be outsourced to a third party. This is not a time to trifle with such an important cause.
After travel restrictions, even countries like Syria and Cambodia have not reported a single case of polio. The World Health Organisation will now be meeting later in November this year and the writing on the wall does not make for a happy reading, Pakistan might face more travel restrictions after its performance of the last six months is reviewed. Even if nothing else is understood, a single statistic of 200 would probably be enough to show the failure of the government and international organisations to battle polio. Something needs to be done and it needs to be done fast, before we are quarantined by the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (4)
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Reality check - despite the public rhetoric about sovereignty the govt of Pakistan has actual control of about half of Pakistan. Seems to me you have to fix that before you can expect the govt to successfully implement any country wide program - whether that's education, polio vaccines or whatever.
It is not the failure of International communities, they can provide funds and have given more to Pakistan than it's fair share. I have the feeling that Pakistan was reporting less polio for many years by fudging data. You cannot have sudden increase in so many polio cases.
Absolutely true, hand over the polio drive to a local reputed NGO such as EDHI. However in the presence of heavy perks and privileges, the strong buracacy of UN and Health Ministry will not let it happen. Someone at the PM level will have to take this decision without listening to his "advisors".
Yet another example of how democratic our current government is with measures such as the eighteenth amendment being an eyewash to fool the masses into blaming the provinical governments for many woes while their hands, in reality, remain tied. Democracy, thou art the best revenge.