Fight against polio: Vaccine runs out as teams uncover missed areas
Polio vaccination teams on Thursday reached Tribal Areas missed during previous campaigns due to security concerns.
A Health Department spokesman told The Express Tribune that of 60 teams sent to cover these areas, two teams returned after they ran short of vaccines. He said the area had more children in the age group than anticipated by health teams.
He said teams deputed to Khadd Bazdarand and Lofani Daff were turned away by locals. He said as many as 80 families had said no to the vaccine.
The spokesman said as many as 28,992 children had been vaccinated over two days.
Meanwhile, the provincial coordinator of the World Health Organization led two vaccination teams to Fort Munro and Mubarki to verify coverage and monitor performance of polio teams.
He also inquired from locals about their concerns regarding the polio vaccination drive.
He was told that some areas had been not covered. He assured them that polio workers would be sent to those areas as soon as possible.
Separately, Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Saqib Aziz called a meeting on November 15 to review the vaccination drive in the district. Representatives of the WHO have also been invited to the meeting.
The district administration of Dera Ghazi Khan had launched the 120th polio vaccination campaign in the district on Monday.
Deputy District Health Officer Jalal Khan Leghari told The Express Tribune that 1,176 teams had been formed to vaccinate children of the district.
He said Dera Ghazi Khan had been declared extremely sensitive by the Punjab government with regards to polio.
It was reported that over 12 villages, including Gurkhud, Johandthall, Hallothall, Baayan Thall, Belpathar, Sukanjhwali, Challani, Bhanddaf, Bahandaf and Kamalani had been missed in the previous vaccination drive last month.
Leghari said the areas could not be covered due to security concerns.
The DCO had then issued orders to the Health Department that the border military police should be deployed for security of the polio teams.
He said the border military police had assessed security in the area and had sent a report in this regard to the DCO. He said areas missed earlier would be covered.
Leghari said over 50 Baloch Levies and border military police officials had now deployed for security of the vaccination teams.
The last polio case in the area came into the light in 2011 from Kot Chatha.
Leghari said 105 stool samples had been sent to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
Locals have demanded that youth of the tribal areas be appointed as focal persons for polio vaccination drives if the Health Department could not guarantee security of polio workers. They say that youth from these tribal areas should be trained and an awareness campaign should be launched.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2014.
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