LANDI KOTAL: Nearly 200 lady health volunteers have not been paid stipends for at least four previous anti-polio vaccination campaigns in Khyber tribal district owing to paucity of funds, according to sources.

They said that health authorities would pay every lady health volunteer Rs5,000 for every 5-day polio vaccination campaign before the Mashukhel incident in Peshawar in April.

“We were not only refused payment of four vaccination campaigns conducted since September 2018 till April this year but were also stopped from further performing our vaccination responsibilities,” said Usra, a young health worker, who is also a first year student in a college and wants to continue her studies.

She told this scribe that she along with other lady health workers in Khyber took part in the campaigns in inhospitable and insecure circumstances. She said that every time they went out of their homes for polio vaccination, they thought they would not come back alive owing to persistent threats to their lives.

Official says funding to health dept stopped after abolition of Agency Development Fund

“The security personnel deputed to provide security to us too seemed scared and would persuade us to complete the vaccination as soon as possible,” said Ms Usra.

She said that Rs5,000 per vaccination was a meagre amount in comparison to the threats and intimidations they faced during various campaign.

“Our untiring and courageous efforts go largely unnoticed and not being properly acknowledged,” she added.

The mother of Usra is also a health worker in Landi Kotal hospital while her father is a drug addict. “The Rs20,000 amount for four campaigns may look a small amount to the health authorities but it can make a huge difference for my family as it will help in continuing the education of my brothers, sisters and myself,” said Ms Usra.

District Health Officer Dr Shafeeq, when contacted, that he too believed that suspension of the stipends of lady health volunteers was unjust and should be released as early as possible.

He said that the stipend was paid by the former political administration from its Agency Development Fund prior to merger of erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Shafeeq said that with the abolition of ADF, funding to the health department was also stopped.

“I have personally approached officials of my own department and the public representatives for release of the required funds for the affected lady health volunteers, but to no avail so far,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2019