Pakistan: Refusal by polio workers

The long ugly saga of Pakistan’s battle with polio in these extremist times has taken yet another turn for the worst. Health workers in the Khyber tribal district have refused to participate in a three-day anti-polio campaign, which was due to start yesterday. This setback has come three weeks after another health official was gunned down in Jamrud whilst administrating polio drops to children. Now, amidst threats from the militants, more health workers are refusing to put their lives at risk for what is probably Pakistan’s most significant health fight. The fact that polio is a life-crippling disease has not been enough to enforce a stringent vaccination drive because of the constant attacks by terrorists on any and every campaign initiated to tackle the virus. There are too many children in the tribal areas and in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who have been deprived of the vital polio drops, increasing the probabilities of infection. There were more than 89 fresh cases of polio reported last year, with one already surfacing in Karachi in 2014.

The fact that Pakistan is facing an upward swing in polio cases is worrying indeed. What is more alarming is that now healthcare workers are refusing to aid in the fight against it because too many of them have been killed for undertaking this noble task. That leaves hundreds of thousands of children at risk, particularly in the tribal region where the epidemic is most prevalent. It is from this region where the virus can — and is — spread to other parts of the country. It is this very reason that sees the international community putting its guard up. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put Pakistan on its watch list and has given it an end date of 2015 to rid itself of polio or otherwise face travel bans, effectively making us a pariah state. The health officials have taken this hard stance for two reasons: rising threats and poor security. With all the negatives associated with the disease, why is the government not doing something to facilitate the anti-polio workers? Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI whose government is in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has spoken about being active in the war against polio but why is he not doing what is most important: helping those who are out in the field, administrating medication and suffering violent consequences for their humane acts? It is time for the governments to shed their complacency and indifference in this matter. There are no two ways about it — the militant threat in the fight against polio must be thwarted and the health workers facilitated in every way possible.