‘Propaganda against vaccine is deliberate’

JUI-S chief says all such rumours are baseless

PESHAWAR:

Though the polio drive is in full swing in K-P and Fata, there are many obstacles obstructing its path to success.

Many people are opposed to the idea of polio drops, saying they are harmful for health. However, a cleric, head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and Patron-in-Chief of Darul Uloom Jamia Haqqania Akora Khattak, Maulana Samiul Haq, termed these claims baseless, saying such misconceptions were deliberately created.



He said this while talking to the media at Madrassa Haqqania Akora Khattak on the occasion of the launch of the three-day polio drive in the province, according to an official handout issued by the health department on Monday. Besides him, Provincial Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai, representatives from WHO and Unicef were also present on the occasion.

The statement read Haq urged parents to get their children immunised against polio as it was their foremost duty to take the best possible care of their health.

“All segments of society, including the ulema, should make sincere and coordinated efforts to eradicate polio virus from our country,” the statement quoted Haq as saying.

While speaking to the media on the occasion, Tarakai said the provincial government was determined to eradicate poliovirus from the province. “With the support and cooperation of ulema, this menace will surely be eradicated by next year,” he said, calling upon everyone to consider eradicating polio “a national duty.” He urged other religious figures and leaders that have the power of shaping public opinion to come forward and guide people about the benefits of the vaccine. He lauded the efforts of Maulana Samiul Haq to eradicate poliovirus, who, to set an example, administered polio drops to his granddaughter and formally launched the campaign.



A national polio immunisation campaign kicked off yesterday across the country, in which millions of children will be inoculated against poliovirus. According to health officials, 5.3 million children will be administered polio vaccines in a three-day drive across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, adding over two and a half million households will be visited and around 425 lady health workers will take part in the drive. They also informed about 800,000 children from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will be vaccinated. A total of 32 cases have been confirmed in 2015 with 13 cases from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 10 from the tribal areas, five from Balochistan and four from Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.