‘Pakistan to be rid of virus by 2016’

UNICEF regional coordinator says it is crucial to access children in Fata.

PESHAWAR: Polio will be eradicated from Pakistan by the end of 2016, said Unicef Regional Polio Coordinator Rod Curtis.

He was addressing tribal journalists during a workshop in Peshawar on Wednesday. According to Curtis, Pakistan is the only country where polio cases have been on the rise since 2007. “This is largely because polio workers have not been able to vaccinate children in Fata,” he said. “The federal government must take an initiative to eradicate the virus from the country.”

Curtis lauded the assistance provided to Unicef by the government and security forces to eliminate poliovirus. Speaking on the occasion, FATA Establishment Secretary Syed Zaheerul Islam said Pakistan has focused on eliminating militancy within its borders over the past few years.



“Certain elements have targeted polio workers to destabilise Pakistan,” he said. “They tried to show the world that the country was incapable of providing security to its people.”  According to Islam, militants have repeatedly attacked state assets.

“However, the sacrifices of the nation’s people have put an end to their nefarious designs,” he said. The establishment secretary said tribespeople are no longer refusing polio vaccinations for their children.

Medical experts at the workshop said the number of polio cases reported in Fata so far during 2015 is comparatively lower than the number of cases reported during the corresponding period in 2014.

They urged Fata journalists to help eradicate polio by raising awareness about the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th,  2015.