Battling on : ‘Impossible to inoculate province in one day’

Polio campaign held in 97 UCs of provincial capital to immunise 0.75m children.

PESHAWAR: In addition to joining hands with the army and the federal government for the Sehat ka Ittehad campaign, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government is making efforts to rid the province of poliovirus, said a health official. A polio drive took place in the provincial capital on Sunday, however, it is almost impossible to carry out a campaign in the entire province in a single day, added the official.

Polio campaigns are held in phases for various reasons, mainly law and order, said the official, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“We try to cover sensitive areas simultaneously, on a single day. However, since the provincial capital borders tribal areas, separate campaigns are held in the city and separate ones in the rest of the province.”

Sunday drive

The campaign held in Peshawar district was a follow-up to a strategy devised for sensitive areas, he said, adding around 0.75million children were administered polio drops in 97 union councils.

Around 4,000 teams were assigned the task of administering oral polio vaccines in the district. An estimated 5,000-strong police force was deployed for their security. He added the health department always sent a status report to the relevant authorities before conducting the campaigns.

“This is something we coordinate with the district administration. It helps us provide the number of police personnel needed for the workers protection as many of them have been killed in the past,” said the health official. He added the district administration also imposed a ban on motorbike riding as the vehicles were used by militants to carry out their deadly attacks on polio workers.

The official said “surprise” polio drives were carried out ahead of schedule in sensitive areas, sometimes a day in advance, to eliminate the threat of a militant assault.

On January 22, the provincial and federal governments decided to come together and counter nine different diseases, including polio, in K-P and the tribal areas. The decision was taken at an apex committee meeting, a body formed to implement the National Action Plan at the provincial level.

The meeting was attended by K-P Governor Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Hidayatur Rehman. Participants discussed future strategies to counter nine preventable diseases — diptheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, pertussis, polio, meningitis, hepatitis B, influenza and measles.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2015.