Islamabad, April 18 (IANS). Pakistan is continuously lagging behind in the fight against polio. A media report has claimed that the main reason for this is lack of trust. The public does not have faith in the anti-polio drive. Not only this, the security of the personnel who participate in this drive also depends on the authorities. Many have even lost their lives during this period.
The report, quoting government officials, has claimed that the people involved in the campaign are the targets of militants. Often after the attacks it is termed as an intelligence front or a foreign conspiracy. Poor and educationally backward people do not even trust the vaccine. Parents become obstacles in the vaccination of children due to which the campaign is not reaching the point where it should be.
The challenge increases with each attack, and the retreat of the vaccinators leaves the entire area unsafe.
These problems are visible in the statistics, because Pakistan is one of the two countries where polio has not been controlled. The report said that in recent years, there has been a decline in cases but it is insufficient. This increases from time to time due to missing babies, and these small gaps are what allow the virus to emerge.
The report further states that there can be no compromise on the safety of front-line workers, but the government cannot be limited to just ensuring their safety. The only solution can be to build trust. For this, contact with local communities will have to be increased. JD also includes religious gurus, mosque functionaries and Maulvis because these are the people who have a special influence on a section of society.
In the last one year, many such incidents have taken place which show atrocities on polio teams. On 13 April, a police team protecting polio teams was targeted in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A police constable was killed and four other personnel were injured in this attack.
This incident took place in Thal tehsil of Hangu on the first day of the vaccination campaign to be held from April 13-19. Pakistan’s well-known newspaper Dawn quoted the police as saying that unknown assailants opened fire on the police party, killing one policeman and injuring four others.
In February, unidentified assailants opened fire on a police vaccination team in Chaman district of Balochistan, Pakistan, killing a policeman.
Many more incidents took place in February. Polio teams were attacked in different areas of Lahore, Pakistan. This was done by those parents who did not want their children to be given polio drops.
–IANS
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