Pakistan - Polio workers - Slaying the saviours

The intensity of the threat to polio workers is deepening as this time it was Lahore and not some far off troubled area where they came under attack. To assume that terrorists have their grip only on undeveloped areas would be a mistake. Their narrative, if not their network, is spread across the country. It was only two days ago when four health workers, three of them women, were murdered when gunmen sprayed their vehicle with bullets in Quetta. In the Lahore incident, it was the parents who, after refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated, beat up the polio team. In Quetta on the other hand, it was a targeted killing as the assailants first identified the workers before attacking them. Jundullah, a Taliban splinter group, later claimed responsibility for the attack. Since the Taliban denounced the polio immunisation campaign as a western plot against Muslims, these workers have acquired a status of no less than warriors on the health front, as their lives are constantly at risk. In the first place, it is difficult for the campaigners to reach out to the vulnerable children and where and when they do, some parents refuse to get their children immunised. How ironic and tragic for the children that despite being potential victims of this disease, their own parents, out of ignorance or under the spell of misleading propaganda, expose their own offspring to this threat.

Naturally, with the increasing number of attacks on polio teams, the number of polio victims will also rise. Governments are culpable in this matter as in spite of being aware of the threat, they have failed to provide sufficient security to these self-sacrificing people who have devoted themselves to save our future generations from being crippled. Instead of taking punitive action against the assailants and providing the vaccination workers with more security, the government appears to be inconsiderate and inept by not responding appropriately. How many wake-up calls do they need to come out of their slumber? The water has overflowed over the bridge and it is not only the terrorists we are at loggerheads with but with the terrorists’ narrative. The worsening situation vis-à-vis polio is painting Pakistan further into a corner and if the menace is not controlled on a war footing, it can very well invite more travel bans and further isolation in the world community. The ritual commissions and promises that are made by ministers and the authorities do not look remotely like they are going to be able to eradicate polio nor are they going to save health workers’ lives. If governments have indeed committed themselves to fight against polio, they need to back the campaign to the hilt.