QUETTA: In a news conference held Tuesday at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in Balochistan's capital, it was revealed that more than 20,000 parents in the province, on average, refuse polio drops for their children below the age of five.

“The number of chronic refusals is more than 4,000,” said Sayed Saifur Rehman, coordinator of EOC.

“Religious leaders and clerics will play their part in persuading parents to administer polio drops to their children,” said Rehman, while talking about preparations to ensure success of the upcoming anti-polio drive in the province.

The news conference was attended by clerics and other religious leaders.

Senior clerics Ataur Rehman and Maulana Anwarul Haq Haqqani have already assured complete support for the upcoming anti-polio drive in September.

Read: Balochistan government to provide adequate security for anti-polio drive

“Refusals on religious grounds are a major cause, and we will tackle them effectively by using religious influence in high-risk areas,” said the EOC coordinator.

Responding to a question, Rehman said, “Instances of refusal are categorised separately, and we will conduct an anti-polio drive every month for the next nine months to properly tackle the disease in Balochistan.”

Read more: 4,000 parents in northern Balochistan refuse polio vaccination

Rehman said as many as four polio cases had so far been detected in Quetta, Qila Abdullah and Loralai this year as opposed to 25 cases in the province during the entire last year.

According to officials from the provincial government of Balochistan, polio cases in the province have declined 78 per cent in 2015 compared to last year.

Around two dozen polio cases were reported from Balochistan last year, with the most affected areas in the province being Quetta, Killa Abdullah and Pishin district.

The government has declared a polio emergency throughout the province to root out the crippling virus from the region. But the anti-polio drive in the province has been marred by instances of terrorism, whereby polio health workers have been attacked and killed on numerous occasions.

After an attack late last year that killed four polio workers in Quetta, including three women, volunteers and health workers boycotted the campaign in Balochistan in lieu of security threats.

But World Health Organisation (WHO), in collaboration with the provincial government, has been resilient in its efforts to drive out the virus from the region. After the deadly attack in Quetta last year, the WHO made clear it will not close down or withdraw its operations in Balochistan or anywhere else in Pakistan.