Eight lethal diseases: only 10 percent children being vaccinated in Balochistan

Medical experts said that only 10 percent of the less than five years children of the total population of the province are being vaccinated against the lethal eight diseases which cause disability in children. Talking to VOA on Monday. The Central President of the Pakistan Paediatric Association Dr Ameer Muhammad Jogezai said that a wave of surge has been observed in the polio cases among children in Balochistan for some time.
He said that migrating children from Afghanistan is one major factor. They carry virus along with them into Pakistan as they cross into our side. He said that another reason for the increase in polio cases was the perception that the polio vaccine affected the reproductive organs of a child.
The parents of the children, due to that perception, did not allow their children to be vaccinated, Dr Jogezai said. He further said that the provincial government and the anti-polio teams, in spite of their best efforts, could not convince the people to administer polio drops to their children.
The rapid increase in the polio cases in Balochistan was affecting the anti-polio campaign in the country, he maintained. Asmatullah Kakar, Provincial Secretary Health, while talking to Voice of America, also said that the high disability ratio in the children due to the polio disease was a matter of grave concern.
He said that the government is taking steps to prevent the increase in the polio cases. He said that the government wants doctors, who avoid to be appointed in the remote areas of the province for anti-polio campaign, to change their attitude and perform duties in the far-flung areas.