KARACHI: Security continues to be a key issue hampering the planned anti-polio campaigns devised by the authorities in the provincial health department in certain ‘sensitive neighbourhoods’ during Ramazan. Lack of security personnel for the volunteers has failed a major anti-polio drive and several parallel low-key activities that were also to kick off, it emerged on Friday.

Officials said a major anti-polio campaign in parts of ‘sensitive neighbourhoods’ of the city’s most vulnerable Karachi West district had to be deferred by the authorities after the local police refused to provide them security cover due to staff shortage. Moreover, they said that the remaining policemen had been assigned to maintain law and order situation during Ramazan hence the constraint.

The campaigns for Gadap, Gulshan-i-Maymar, Pirabad and Mominabad had been planned a week before Ramazan in a bid to not let the lethal virus go unchecked for the month keeping in view the fact that the country was already facing travel sanctions by the World Health Organisation for being one of three polio-endemic countries.

Eighth polio case detected in Sindh

The plan had been attached with significance particularly because thousands of internally displaced persons from North Waziristan Agency (adding to most of the country’s polio cases) have arrived in Karachi and most are said to be residing with their relatives in the city’s western fringes.

Sources said many such campaigns and smaller related activities against the disease had been cancelled during the past two weeks because of a dearth of security personnel.

Polio authorities have made it mandatory for volunteers to go in assigned localities only after being provided with adequate security cover after repeated attacks in parts of the city with several volunteers killed and wounded.

“Despite repeated claims that eradicating polio is the government’s top priorities, such non-cooperation from the police reflects otherwise,” said a senior official.

So far, Sindh has recorded seven out of a total of 94 polio cases in the country. Six cases have been reported from Karachi and one case has recently materialised in Sanghar district.

Official figures show that last year 24 polio cases were recorded in the corresponding period. This year the authorities have spotted 13 infected regions in the country as compared to 12 last year.

According to End Polio Pakistan, an organisation working for polio eradication, 92 per cent (86/94) of polio cases this year have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata. Of which 64pc (60/94) are from North and South Waziristan agencies.

Almost all polio-affected children that were reported from North and South Waziristan agencies in 2014 did not receive any dose of oral polio vaccine.

No polio campaign has been conducted in North and South Waziristan agencies since June 2012, leading to an ongoing explosive polio outbreak in the region.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2014