KARACHI: A three-day polio vaccination campaign scheduled to begin on September 1 has been put off by the provincial authorities after the federal health ministry refused to send oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the province due to political unrest in Islamabad, officials confirmed to Dawn on Saturday.

“We have postponed the polio campaign scheduled for Monday as the officials concerned in the federal health ministry have regretted to send the required OPV to us because of the [political] situation in Islamabad,” said a senior official in the Sindh health department.

Dr Durre Naz Jamal, deputy director in the expanded programme on immunisation of Sindh, corroborated it and said: “We have deferred the campaign for the time being and will plan a new schedule when we receive the OPV from the federal capital.”

Officials said the Sindh Expanded Programme for Immunisation had initially sought 4.5 million OPVs, which the National Health Services ministry regretted and agreed to send two million vaccines for Karachi and some other high-risk districts of Sindh.

However, the officials added, the provincial authorities on Saturday received information from Islamabad that even the slashed quantity of the required stuff could not be sent because of an uncertain situation in the capital affecting the entire government apparatus.

The sit-ins by the two political parties affected the life of the people in Islamabad first and then the economy, and now even the health sector is being affected in other parts of the country, according to a senior health official of the Sindh government.

Before the provincial government put off the campaign, it had put together all the arrangements required to carry out an effective campaign with the required security cover.

Police commandos and officials had been deputed to protect polio workers in Karachi and its western fringes in particular.

Health officials said the drive was part of special measures being taken to check the spread of the polio virus after the World Health Organisation imposed travel restrictions on Pakistan. What perturbs the authorities even more is the fact that the number of polio cases is still significantly high that can make it difficult for the country to win review of the WHO decision by the end of the year.

Only a few days back officials in Islamabad had asked all the provinces to explain reasons behind the persistent increase in number of polio cases.

Since June 1 when the sanctions came into effect, the country has recorded 36 polio cases with a significant contribution of 30 cases from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Of the three dozen cases, 23 were recorded in Fata and seven polio cases were detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Five cases were confirmed in Sindh, while one each was detected in Punjab and Balochistan provinces after the WHO advised all international passengers from Pakistan to get inoculated and grab a vaccination card before leaving abroad.

Around 80 per cent of the cases in Fata were reported from North Waziristan Agency — the erstwhile lawless region where polio workers could not go to vaccinate children since June 2012. With a military operation under way in North Waziristan, a large population has fled to Karachi and other parts of the country over the past two months.

While 36 polio cases have been detected in the country during the past three months, the total number of polio cases reported only this year is even bigger. Pakistan now carries a huge burden of 117 polio cases: 85 from Fata, 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Sindh and one each from Balochistan and Punjab.

Karachi recorded 10 out of 11 cases in Sindh this year yet health officials believed that only targeted vaccination campaigns carried out on a regular basis could fetch positive results. They said immunisation drives were suspended quite often in the past when polio workers repeatedly came under gun attacks in district west of the city. It was for this reason that 150 police commandos and 1,200 police officials had been ordered to protect polio workers in district west of Karachi during the three-day drive which was scheduled to begin on Sept 1. As similar arrangements were in place for the remaining five districts also, once again the polio vaccination drive has been postponed though for a different reason this time.

Published in Dawn, August 31st , 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan turbulence
19 Mar, 2024

Afghan turbulence

RELATIONS between the newly formed government and Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers have begun on an...
In disarray
19 Mar, 2024

In disarray

IT is clear that there is some bad blood within the PTI’s ranks. Ever since the PTI lost a key battle over ...
Festering wound
19 Mar, 2024

Festering wound

PROTESTS unfolded once more in Gwadar, this time against the alleged enforced disappearances of two young men, who...
Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...