Gates foundation: Vaccination efforts in FATA lauded

PESHAWAR: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Program representative Dr Waqar Ajmal said on Monday achievements in vaccinating inaccessible children in Fata are contributing to global priorities in polio eradication. In a meeting at Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for Fata, Secretary Law & Order /EOC FATA Coordinator Shakeel Qadir presented data regarding polio vaccination campaigns within the region. Qadir informed the inaccessibility of participants has dropped in 2015 from 31% in 2014, while the number of polio cases in the tribal aeras reduced to 11 in 2015 as compared to 179 in 2014. He said cases of refusals by parents have been of focus during the recent campaigns and plans to vaccinate every child in Fata are on track. He shared seven polio cases in Khyber Agency have been detected so far which is significant portion of the 11 polio cases reported in FATA this year; including two polio cases in South Waziristan and one case in North Waziristan and one in FR Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2015.