10 years on: Vaccination drive launched in North Waziristan

BANNU:

After a long hiatus, healthcare officials, aided by the administration staff and paramilitary troops, launched a three-day polio vaccination campaign in Speen Waam tehsil of the troubled North Waziristan tribal region.

A number of local tribal elders also accompanied the vaccinators as they went door to door to administer polio shots to children below five years of age.

A health official informed The Express Tribune that the vaccination campaign was launched in the region after a period of 10 years.

In this connection, a special ceremony was held in Speen Waam tehsil which was addressed by Maulana Salim Gul, Malik Gul Zafar, Malik Noor Khan and Captain Ali Tahir. They urged the tribal people to vaccinate their children against the crippling disease in order to save their future.

The Taliban had banned polio vaccination in the troubled agency suspecting that American spies disguising as vaccinators provided information for CIA drone strikes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.