June 25, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 20, 1429

QUETTA, June 24: Another child has fallen victim to polio in Balochistan because of wrong perceptions about vaccination among the people.

The case had been detected in a village of Pashin district, sources in the provincial immunisation programme told Dawn here on Tuesday.

It was the second polio cases reported in the province this year and 15th in the country.

“The deadly virus has paralysed for life a 14-month-old boy, Noorullah Achakzai, son of Paida Mohammad Achakzai, in Melizai union council of Naliramoza village,” provincial health authorities said, adding that the National Institute Health (NIH) Laboratory had confirmed the case.

The sources said the village was known for negative perceptions about polio vaccination as a plot by the West to render Muslim children infertile.

“It is very sad to know that another innocent child has been paralysed for life because of the baseless rumour about the vaccine that has helped about 80 per cent of the Muslim world to get rid of the polo virus,” they said.

During the past week, another polio case was detected in the Miralizai border village of Qila Abdullah — two-year-old Zahoor.

During the current year, 10 polio case have been reported in Sindh, three in the NWFP and two in Balochistan.