PESHAWAR: The poor vaccination campaigns and refusal by parents against immunisation were hampering Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio as two new cases were notified by National Institute of Health, Islamabad on Monday, sources said.

They said that both the victims of the crippling disease -- one belonging to Khyber Agency and other to Lakki Marwat -- didn’t get anti-polio drops.

The country has registered 119 polio cases in 2014 so far.

They said that one-year-old Zahibullah, a resident of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency couldn’t be accessed owing to security reasons while Iqra Bibi of the same age in Naurang tehsil of Lakki Marwat remained without vaccination owing to refusal by her parents.

Non-vaccination of children continues to thwart government’s effort to eradicate polio in the fulfillment of its global commitment. Lack of vaccination due to refusal by parents or security reason is a stumbling block in worldwide polio eradication campaign in certain parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

Anti-polio vaccine has been the only proven intervention to do away with the disease.

The World Health Organisation recorded 360,000 cases worldwide when global emergency against polio was declared in 1988. The global polio eradication initiative began the same year was aimed at eradicating the childhood ailment by 2000 but it couldn’t be materialised owing to poor quality of vaccination, especially in developing countries.

Sources say poor campaign and refusal by parents to immunise their children hampering efforts to eradicate the crippling disease

However, the disease remained endemic only in six countries by year 2000 compared to 126 when the programme was launched.

A global debate, started from 2005 to 2011, described the situation with regard to polio vaccination as unsatisfactory and held little hopes of eradication. Hopes to use vaccination as basic intervention for polio eradication again came to spotlight when India was awarded polio-free certificate after it didn’t register any case for three years.

Displacement of people from North Waziristan Agency is proving a blessing for more than 200,000 unvaccinated children, who are now safe against poliomyelitis, a childhood disease most prevalent in their native area.

The vaccine-preventable disease, which causes paralysis in early years of life, has widely been eliminated from the world. There are only three countries -- Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan -- endemic that posed threats of re-infection of states long declared polio-free.

North Waziristan Agency has recorded 61 polio cases of the total 86 from Federally Administered Tribal Areas owing to lack of immunisation due to ban on vaccination by Taliban there.

Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency is another area of concern where vaccination has not been carried out to a desired level owing to law and order situation.

Despite four campaigns in Bara during the past few months wherein health workers recorded 100 per cent coverage, polio cases are still reported with zero doses.

Despite immunisation of majority of 37,000 target population in each of the drive, the virus exists in Bara. Similarly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 20 polio cases suffers due to poor quality of vaccination campaign.

Khyber Agency with 15, South Waziristan Agency with eight and FR Bannu with two polio cases are other examples where non-vaccinated children were infected by the disease.The health workers in Fata vaccinated five million children in every drive but they couldn’t reach about 80,000 other children owing to security reasons or refusal by parents.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1.3 million population is at risk of polio as it lives in the areas where virus is in circulation. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also restricted polio virus to certain districts. Bannu leads with nine polio cases followed by eight from Peshawar, two from Lakki Marwat and one from Mardan.

Authorities say that 90 per cent of the country’s area is without virus. According to them, Pakistan, being the only nuclear power polio-endemic country, faces daunting challenge of eradication of polio. Nigeria and Afghanistan are two other endemic countries.

The global community has spent more $8 billion on polio eradication so far. International funding has almost dried up for anti-polio efforts because the virus has only been exported to the developing countries. The initial fear by developed countries that virus can re-infect their children, has vanished due to worldwide vaccination campaign.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd , 2014