PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas feel jubilant over their landmark success against polio virus on the eve of the World Polio Day (Oct 24), but they require sustained efforts in their final push against the crippling ailment.

Two years ago, the KP and Fata together recorded 80 polio cases and the number has dropped to nine in 2016 as of October 23. This has been billed as marked success by the international community.

Experts say that there were no prospects a few years ago that the KP and Fata will bring down cases and contain the virus because of multiple factors, including attacks on the health workers, propaganda against the oral polio vaccines by the local clergy and Taliban militants as well as accessibility to children. However, there is a sea change with regard to polio vaccination.

Militants have killed 30 vaccinators and policeman guarding them and injured 40 others since 2012 in KP which scared the health workers and many refused to become part of the campaign. However, there is a tangible improvement in this regard and the vaccinators now feel safe during the campaigns.

Over 32,000 health workers vaccinate 5.5 million children in KP and visit three million houses to administer polio drops to children at their doorstep in each of the 12 monthly campaigns every year.

Due to insecurity, the vaccinators had failed to reach all the houses and children which made it difficult to cope with circulation of the virus. Fear which gripped vaccinators in the past has faded away with the military action against Taliban militants and the health department is now reaching almost 99 per cent of the target children.

Pakistan has recorded 16 cases so far this year, including seven from KP, five from Sindh and four from KP, Fata rejoice at success in anti-polio efforts Balochistan, compared to 40 cases recorded in the corresponding period of last year.

The situation in Fata is also satisfactory when seen in the context of militancy that would hamper vaccination. Fata recorded 179 cases in 2014 and 16 in 2015 while only two cases have been recorded in 2016 so far. These two cases, according experts, didn’t belong to Fata because both the children had migrated to Afghanistan and stayed in the Taliban-controlled areas where OPV was not allowed.

The success against the virus is also attributed to the improved security situation due to which the health workers are able to vaccinate about one million children.

On the eve of the World Polio Day, KP governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra commended bravery of the health workers, national and international partners involved polio eradication efforts in Fata and parents of the children and urged them to continue their efforts till eradication of the virus.

“It would not have been possible without the political commitment and broader support from the parents and caregivers and we need strenuous efforts to rooting out poliomyelitis from the country,” a statement issued on Sunday quoted the governor as saying.

However, despite these achievements the Fata and KP require sustained efforts to do away with the vaccine-preventable ailment in the fulfillment of National Emergency Plan, which aims that no case is reported from Dec 2016 onward and the country remains polio-free in 2017 to be able to eradicate the disease.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the two last polio-endemic countries, which the WHO says could transmit the virus to the countries long declared polio-free.

Published in Dawn October 24th, 2016