After an intensified security plan has been chalked out for protection of teams, the authorities on Friday decided to resume the anti-polio campaign in Peshawar and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on June 10.
The security plan was finalised at a high-level meeting of the security and Health Department officials with Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anis in the chair. At least 700,000 children under five years of age will be administered drops by the volunteers of 2000 teams that will be properly guarded by the police. Sahibzada Mohammad Anis said the volunteers would be provided adequate security during the campaign.
The anti-polio vaccination campaign was suspended on May 28 after a female volunteer Sharafata, 18, was killed and another volunteer, Sumbul, 20, was wounded when armed men attacked the team in Kaga Wala village on the outskirts of Peshawar. Sumbul is still being treated at the Lady Reading Hospital since she suffered two bullet wounds on her upper body.
The women were not being guarded by the police as promised by the government after a number of attacks on anti-polio vaccination teams during the last couple of months. The local police said the volunteers in the area had refused police security, saying it can cause more threat to the teams.
After the attack, the police launched a search operation in the area, during which 14 suspects were rounded up. A police sub-inspector Salim Khan suffered heart attack during the search operation and died.
These volunteers are hardly paid Rs500 per day for putting their lives in danger to fight the menace of polio all over the country. The anti-polio campaign had to be suspended on a number of occasions in the past due to the attacks in Peshawar, Karachi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and other parts of the country. Only male volunteers are carrying out the anti-polio vaccination campaign in many tribal areas due to the threats.
In December, at least eight anti-polio volunteers were killed and a few wounded in coordinated attacks on two consecutive days in Karachi, Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda, after which the authorities had to suspend the drive all over the country.
The killing spree started from Karachi on December 17, 2012 when five volunteers were killed while another woman was shot dead and her co-worker wounded in Peshawar. This was followed by killing of two more volunteers in attacks in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera the very next day as authorities had decided to continue the campaign. The killings on the second consecutive day, however, led to suspension of the drive to avoid more casualties.
A proper security was ordered for the polio teams all over the country and it was decided to carry out the campaigns without much publicity. However, the killings of the volunteers as well as the cops guarding the teams continued. A cop was shot dead and another wounded in Mardan while another policeman was killed in Swabi while guarding the polio vaccinators in their respective areas in the past months.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Peshawar: Anti-polio drive to resume on June 10 amid tight security
After an intensified security plan has been chalked out for protection of teams, the authorities on Friday decided to resume the anti-polio campaign in Peshawar and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on June 10.
The security plan was finalised at a high-level meeting of the security and Health Department officials with Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anis in the chair. At least 700,000 children under five years of age will be administered drops by the volunteers of 2000 teams that will be properly guarded by the police. Sahibzada Mohammad Anis said the volunteers would be provided adequate security during the campaign.
The anti-polio vaccination campaign was suspended on May 28 after a female volunteer Sharafata, 18, was killed and another volunteer, Sumbul, 20, was wounded when armed men attacked the team in Kaga Wala village on the outskirts of Peshawar. Sumbul is still being treated at the Lady Reading Hospital since she suffered two bullet wounds on her upper body.
The women were not being guarded by the police as promised by the government after a number of attacks on anti-polio vaccination teams during the last couple of months. The local police said the volunteers in the area had refused police security, saying it can cause more threat to the teams.
After the attack, the police launched a search operation in the area, during which 14 suspects were rounded up. A police sub-inspector Salim Khan suffered heart attack during the search operation and died.
These volunteers are hardly paid Rs500 per day for putting their lives in danger to fight the menace of polio all over the country. The anti-polio campaign had to be suspended on a number of occasions in the past due to the attacks in Peshawar, Karachi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan and other parts of the country. Only male volunteers are carrying out the anti-polio vaccination campaign in many tribal areas due to the threats.
In December, at least eight anti-polio volunteers were killed and a few wounded in coordinated attacks on two consecutive days in Karachi, Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda, after which the authorities had to suspend the drive all over the country.
The killing spree started from Karachi on December 17, 2012 when five volunteers were killed while another woman was shot dead and her co-worker wounded in Peshawar. This was followed by killing of two more volunteers in attacks in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera the very next day as authorities had decided to continue the campaign. The killings on the second consecutive day, however, led to suspension of the drive to avoid more casualties.
A proper security was ordered for the polio teams all over the country and it was decided to carry out the campaigns without much publicity. However, the killings of the volunteers as well as the cops guarding the teams continued. A cop was shot dead and another wounded in Mardan while another policeman was killed in Swabi while guarding the polio vaccinators in their respective areas in the past months.
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