A press report carries the surprising news that the biggest challenge to polio eradication programme comes not from militants infested Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but Punjab. A report sent to the government by two polio eradication programme partners, WHO which provides support in operational and financial areas, and the UNICEF helping with communication assistance, says "missed and NA (not available) children pose biggest challenge to Punjab as it tops the list of missed and NA children with the number reaching 134,877 in the campaign of September 2013, thus posing a formidable challenge to the polio eradication partners."
That, of course, does not mean the situation in KPK and Fata is not worrisome enough. Indeed, armed militants continue to resist vaccination drives. Since July 2012 as many as 31 polio workers and their police escorts have been killed. Some of the attacks have taken place in various parts of Karachi and Quetta populated by extremist dominated communities. Prominent political personalities, Imran Khan in KPK, chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch in Balochistan and Asifa Bhutto Zardari in Sindh have come out to lead anti-polio campaigns to provide encouragement to health workers as well as families. Polio vaccination teams, however, face no such threat in Punjab. Yet according to the partner organisations' findings from a survey, out of a sample of 340 missed children in Punjab, 205 were listed as unavailable during the National Immunisation Days. Even more disturbing is the discovery that as many as 112 children could not receive anti-polio drops due to non-availability of vaccinating teams. The number of refusal cases was only nine.
These findings are absolutely unacceptable considering the amount of resources that have been going into the effort to immunise children against this debilitating disease. It is bad news also for all citizens who need to travel abroad. India has already made it mandatory, effective later this month, ie, January 30, for Pakistani citizens seeking its visa to take polio drops six-week before travelling to that country. Other countries may follow suit if effective measures are not adopted. The Punjab, arguably, is one of the better run provinces. The provincial government, of course, is cognisant of the need to eradicate polio. There is a law in place too that allows for punishing parents who refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated. It is obvious from the sample survey result that scores of children failed to receive anti-polio drops because of unavailability of vaccinators, that the field staff is responsible for criminal negligence of duty. The partner organisations' report also mentions a laid-back community attitude towards vaccination. Needless to say the government has to act urgently to redress the situation both from the vaccination givers and receivers ends. The monitoring system has to be strengthened to ensure health workers perform their duties properly. Also, it would be worthwhile for the Chief Minister either to lead anti-polio drives himself, like prominent figures in other provinces, or to appoint a popular personality as a goodwill ambassador to create greater awareness among different communities about the perils of adopting a careless attitude toward polio vaccination.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Pakistan: Punjab's polio challenge
A press report carries the surprising news that the biggest challenge to polio eradication programme comes not from militants infested Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but Punjab. A report sent to the government by two polio eradication programme partners, WHO which provides support in operational and financial areas, and the UNICEF helping with communication assistance, says "missed and NA (not available) children pose biggest challenge to Punjab as it tops the list of missed and NA children with the number reaching 134,877 in the campaign of September 2013, thus posing a formidable challenge to the polio eradication partners."
That, of course, does not mean the situation in KPK and Fata is not worrisome enough. Indeed, armed militants continue to resist vaccination drives. Since July 2012 as many as 31 polio workers and their police escorts have been killed. Some of the attacks have taken place in various parts of Karachi and Quetta populated by extremist dominated communities. Prominent political personalities, Imran Khan in KPK, chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch in Balochistan and Asifa Bhutto Zardari in Sindh have come out to lead anti-polio campaigns to provide encouragement to health workers as well as families. Polio vaccination teams, however, face no such threat in Punjab. Yet according to the partner organisations' findings from a survey, out of a sample of 340 missed children in Punjab, 205 were listed as unavailable during the National Immunisation Days. Even more disturbing is the discovery that as many as 112 children could not receive anti-polio drops due to non-availability of vaccinating teams. The number of refusal cases was only nine.
These findings are absolutely unacceptable considering the amount of resources that have been going into the effort to immunise children against this debilitating disease. It is bad news also for all citizens who need to travel abroad. India has already made it mandatory, effective later this month, ie, January 30, for Pakistani citizens seeking its visa to take polio drops six-week before travelling to that country. Other countries may follow suit if effective measures are not adopted. The Punjab, arguably, is one of the better run provinces. The provincial government, of course, is cognisant of the need to eradicate polio. There is a law in place too that allows for punishing parents who refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated. It is obvious from the sample survey result that scores of children failed to receive anti-polio drops because of unavailability of vaccinators, that the field staff is responsible for criminal negligence of duty. The partner organisations' report also mentions a laid-back community attitude towards vaccination. Needless to say the government has to act urgently to redress the situation both from the vaccination givers and receivers ends. The monitoring system has to be strengthened to ensure health workers perform their duties properly. Also, it would be worthwhile for the Chief Minister either to lead anti-polio drives himself, like prominent figures in other provinces, or to appoint a popular personality as a goodwill ambassador to create greater awareness among different communities about the perils of adopting a careless attitude toward polio vaccination.
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