PESHAWAR: As Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has stayed polio-free this year so far, experts associated with vaccination campaigns are frustrated with new reasons for refusal of parents against the immunisation of children, exposing them to poliomyelitis, a crippling childhood ailment.
During the last two anti-polio campaigns conducted in April and June, about 21,459 children remained unvaccinated due to flimsy demands of people in exchange of allowing immunisation of their children.
According to a report prepared by Emergency Operation Centre (Polio) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,716 children didn’t get oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the April’s campaign owing to different demands put forward by community elders for immunisation of children in their areas. These children belonged to 15 union councils in Khyber, Kurram, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan districts.
The demands included resolution of boundary disputes among people, royalty of natural resources, payment of checks to affected people under Citizens Losses Compensation Programme, initiation of water supply schemes and others.
In June, the situation was no different, as parents demanded provision of electricity and water etc for administering anti-polio drops to their children.Resultantly, 9,743 children in three union councils of Bannu, Kurram and Lakki Marwat districts remained unvaccinated.
Along with these demands put forward by parents and community elders, vaccinators continue to confront violent attacks by unidentified armed persons. During the past two vaccination drives, 10 incidents of violence took place that caused four deaths, including two policemen, one each vaccinator and passerby, and left three policemen injured.
Experts say that killing of people during polio drive continue unabated. Since 2012, they said, 113 people were killed in such attacks while the tally of people suffering injuries was 165 in the same period.
They said police guarding vaccinators accounted for most deaths and injuries while about 15 persons were kidnapped allegedly by the people, who opposed vaccination on various pretexts.
In late January 2024, the worst of the incident was witnessed in Bajaur district when a medical doctor along with six policemen was killed in a roadside blast during a vaccination campaign.
