July 17, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 13, 1429

PESHAWAR, July 16: A new polio case has been found in Swat district, where local Taliban have been aggressively opposing the anti-polio campaign for about a year.

Seven-month-old Tanzeela of Kabal was tested positive for polio on Wednesday. Officials associated with the anti-polio drive told Dawn that the infected child had not received a single dose of oral vaccine (OPV) because of Taliban’s opposition to the vaccination campaign.

With this case, the number of polio victims reported this year has increased to four – two in Nowshera and one in Kohat.

Health officials said the Swat case was of P1, a dangerous form of the disease, and it was necessary to immediately launch a vaccination campaign in the area to stop further cases. Other three cases in the province were of P3 which was not so dangerous.

Of the 365,000 children aged under five in Swat valley, about 50,000 did not get polio drops because they lived in areas controlled by Taliban.

Informed sources in the health department said that the district administration of Swat was not willing to launch a vaccination campaign because of security concerns.