New date yet to be announced after polio vaccination boycotted in Kurram

ISLAMABAD: The administration has yet to announce a new date for the polio vaccination drive, following the recent 7-day anti-polio campaign, which was boycotted by residents and clerics of Kurram clerics, who demanded that roads in the unrest-hit region should fully reopened before any polio drive, sources said.

A local journalist, Azmat Ali, told Business Recorder from Kurram via telephone that people and clerics in Kurram and clerics boycotted the recent nationwide anti-polio campaign from 28 October to November 3 because of closure of Parachinar-Tal Hangu Road.

Last week, Parachainar-Tal Hangu partially opened on alternate days in a week.

5.75m children to come under anti-polio drive in KP

Trade associations and tribal leaders have been urging the restoration of key roads and the return to normalcy in the unrest-stricken region.

Faisal Kamal, DHO of Lower Kurram, confirmed that the area is experiencing demand-based refusals. Residents are seeking employment, electricity, essential food supplies, and the reopening of roads leading to Peshawar and other major cities. He further stated that no new date has been set for the polio campaign at this time.

Dr Qaiser Abbas, DHO of Upper Kurram, shared that the region consists of 76 union councils across three distinct areas. Due to logistical challenges, fuel shortages, and security concerns, the administration and government have been forced to delay the polio vaccination campaign. The original target was to immunize 124,000 children under five years old. Dr Abbas added that the majority of children in Upper, Lower, and Central Kurram have been fully or partially vaccinated.

Meanwhile, an estimated 500,000 children in Pakistan missed out on the recent nationwide polio vaccination campaign.

Mostly people refused vaccines or being unavailable due to travelling when the campaign was launched.

Pakistan has reported 49 polio cases this year, with 23 of those reported from the country’s south-western Balochistan province, 14 from Sindh, 10 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

The alarming surge in cases prompted Pakistan to conduct a countrywide anti-polio vaccination drive from October 28 to November 3, aiming to inoculate over 45 million children against the infection.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024