ISLAMABAD: As the military takes on terrorists and militants in North Waziristan, health officials around the country are worried that another kind of deadly agent has escaped the confines of the restive tribal agency: the poliovirus.

The mass exodus of those displaced from the agency is ringing alarm bells in federal and provincial health departments as nearly 300,000 children who have never received the polio vaccine since June 2012 are expected to leave North Waziristan.

These fears are not unfounded. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s polio cell confirmed that another case of the crippling disease had been detected in the tribal agency, bringing the total number of polio cases detected this year to 83. The latest victim of the crippling disease is five-month-old Hazrat Ali, son of Datta Khel-resident Sher Nawab. The child was never vaccinated.

Because of the new case, the total count of polio cases has reached 83. As many as 65 cases have been reported from Fata, 12 cases from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and six from Karachi.

Polio vaccination drives were banned by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which deemed the vaccine ‘un-Islamic’.

An official from the Ministry of National Health Services told Dawn that the poliovirus had been all but eradicated from most parts of the country. “Recent polio cases have been recorded in Waziristan, where anti-polio drives have not been held for over two years. The virus travels with people and a lot of people are crossing the border into Afghanistan or coming down into the settled areas. Unfortunately, because health departments were not aware of the operation’s timetable, they were unable to make preparations to deal with the situation,” he said.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will face the brunt of the migration because most people will shift there. Others will doubtlessly move in with their relatives in other parts of the country,” he said.

“We have been in touch with the KP government and are trying to ensure that not a single unvaccinated child enters the province. The ministry has also suggested administering the polio vaccine to adults to ensure that that poliovirus does not travel with them,” he said.

“It is possible that migrants will not use main roads and traditional entry points to enter KP. So the provincial government has been asked to initiate an anti-polio campaign to ensure that every household that hosts those displaced from Waziristan should be vaccinated. This drive is expected to be announced within 10 days,” the official said.

“An operation cell will be established in Bannu soon. We want to convert this adversity into an opportunity by ensuring that every child coming from Waziristan is vaccinated,” he added.

Dr Altaf Bosan, a member of the PM’s Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell, told Dawn that the body was concerned over the migration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Waziristan.

“We are preparing to respond quickly and all provinces are being taken on board to ensure that every individual coming down from Waziristan is vaccinated,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2014