PESHAWAR/KHAR, Aug 8: Officials attribute tribesmen’s refusal to get their children immunised against debilitating diseases, including polio, to their antagonism towards the US and its allies.

One of the doctors working in Khyber Agency said: “People’s refusal to get their children vaccinated is a reaction to US activities (bombardments) in tribal areas.”

According to him, North and South Waziristan and Bajaur agencies have become extremely dangerous for health workers.

“In some cases, doctors and health workers have refused to administer vaccines even to their own children,” he said.

He said that people think that the anti-polio campaign was being used by western countries to reduce the global Muslim population.

“An entire locality in South Waziristan Agency refused to vaccinate their children, arguing that hundreds of their children had been killed in brutal US bombardment. They said they did not believe the US really wanted to help their children,” said a vaccinator.

He said that the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) had only 500 technicians and it was difficult for them to cover 680,000 children (17 per cent of the population) in seven tribal agencies spread over an area of 27,220 square kilometres.

A health official said: “The overall coverage is stated to be above 80 per cent but the figure is not reliable as EPI technicians are prone to sending false reports about the coverage,” said an official.

The EPI technicians are responsible for vaccinating children against eight vaccine-preventable diseases.

The official said: “The vaccinators do not have vehicles and, therefore, large areas are out of their reach. There is also a lack of awareness on the part of parents about the importance of vaccination.”

He said that the problem was more severe in Fata because there were no women EPI technicians and when male technicians visited the tribal areas, they were beaten up.

Another factor hindering the immunisation campaign is the difference in pay-scales of EPI technicians and UN-employed officials.

According to the doctor, EPI technicians were required to go to inaccessible areas on foot. “They are paid only Rs120 a day, too meagre an amount for the kind of work they do. On the other hand, the people in UN agencies are paid high wages. This was causing heartburn among the health workers,” he said.