Pakistan: Our struggle against polio

The uphill struggle we are facing in our battle against polio has entered a new dimension of savagery and hopelessness. On Friday yet another anti-polio healthcare worker was gunned down by those elements that think protecting ourselves against this vicious disease is an act against Islam or is a ploy of western countries to eliminate Muslims. The target was an anti-polio vaccination centre in the tribal areas, the victim a mere statistic in the ever rising frequency of fatal attacks against all those humane souls working for the good of the country and its people. The murder has had the desired effect: anti-polio groups have pulled out of the troubled tribal region, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without having been administered the necessary anti-polio vaccination. This will have a disastrous effect on our efforts to wipe out this debilitating illness, one that has the potential to spread the polio catastrophe to the rest of the country.

Focus on polio has gotten extremely intense these last few weeks. The international community is raising its guard — the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced 2015 as the cut-off date for Pakistan to get its polio problem under control or face international travel bans. This has led to a somewhat quickening of pace by the authorities on trying to curb this disease. Imran Khan has launched the latest anti-polio campaign in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, urging all children to be vaccinated. This has earned him the ire of militant forces who have threatened the PTI chief. It is worth remembering that Imran Khan’s policies have been extremely gentle towards the Taliban. He should now realise that these people are no friends of men, women, children, education, enlightenment or healthcare. By sabotaging the polio campaign, the militant monsters are just proving their cold-heartedness towards the people of this country. The lives of anti-polio workers hang by a thread in their presence. It is up to the government to pre-empt such attacks on these decent men and women. Such murders have happened before and will happen again. The governments at the Centre and in the provinces must understand that Pakistan is on its way to becoming a pariah country, isolated from the rest of the world. We need to ensure that our children are protected from the scourge of polio and for that to happen, we must ensure the lives of those willing to inoculate them.