GARHI YASIN: A three-member lady health worker polio team was shot at and injured by armed men in Garhi Yasin area of Shikarpur district on Wednesday.

The polio team was working as part of the latest four-day polio vaccination drive launched across the country.

Two lady health workers sustained gunshot injuries, while a third was injured while trying to flee the scene. The injured workers were shifted to Garhi Yasin Hospital.

The armed men were hidden in a forested area and ambushed the workers as they passed by. The polio workers had not been provided with police security, which is standard procedure during polio drives.

Bushra Arain, chair of the lady health workers' association, has called for lady health workers to boycott the ongoing polio drive in Shikarpur district. She also emphasised the need to provide police security for polio workers.

Although the duration of the boycott has not been specified, the drive concludes on Thursday as three days of the four-day polio drive have already passed.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world which have been transferring the polio virus to each other. The main reason is that the two countries share a 2,500km long border.

Children are vaccinated at legal entry points of the border but since Pakistan is hosting 1.6 million Afghan refugees, a large number of people cross the border illegally from different routes and it is not possible to vaccinate them at the border.

Polio workers have long been targeted in the country due to rumours that the polio immunisation drive is a front for espionage or a conspiracy.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.