Pakistan - Polio enigma

Despite a major ongoing offensive against the Taliban, there is no end to attacks on polio vaccination workers who pluck up courage to carry out this risky mission. Since December 2012, a total of 71 such casualties have been reported across the country. The death toll rose further on Tuesday, March 17, when a two-member team of polio workers escorted by a policeman came under fire by militants from a nearby mountaintop in Mansehra. The two lady health workers and policeman were killed in the ambush. This killing spree has been going on in the country since the Taliban launched a revenge campaign against Dr Shakil Afridi, who was allegedly hired by the CIA to trace out al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden through a fake vaccination campaign. In another unfortunate incident, the Taliban also killed the lawyer who had defended Afridi in court. “Samiullah Afridi had represented his case that is why we decided to eliminate him when we cannot approach Dr Shakil.” This was the statement accepting responsibility for the murder by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan. Although the victim lawyer had abandoned the case almost one year ago and gone abroad because of threats to his life and that of his family, yet the terrorists shot him dead after his return. The terrorists are not only killing innocent health workers but also spreading negative propaganda against the polio vaccination campaign. Rumours were spread that polio vaccination drops were part of a western plot to sterilise Muslims. Uninformed people easily became a prey to such conspiracy theories. Resultantly, many have been hesitant about administering polio drops to their children.

This situation has led to Pakistan becoming the largest reservoir of the polio virus while India, which has a population seven times larger, has been successful in completely eradicating this disease. The government has failed to protect health workers and refute the rubbishy theories about the polio vaccination. Some serious efforts are required to avert this horrible phenomenon that threatens the future of our children. The government needs to take stringent measures to ensure the security of health workers and polio vaccinators. Some positive steps were taken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially when the government issued hundreds of arrest warrants for parents who refused to allow their children to be vaccinated. Along with measures to ensure the safety of health workers during polio vaccination campaigns, there is a need to give them more incentives because they do their jobs at the risk of their lives. If the situation is not controlled now, the chances are rife that Pakistan will be declared a pariah country and suffer extreme isolation in the international community.