PESHAWAR, March 3: To counter the propaganda against vaccination in parts of the NWFP and Fata, the Frontier government has decided to mobilise prayer leaders who will try to convince the masses about the merits of the ongoing anti-polio drive.

Authorities have been directed to seek the clerics’ help in highlighting a fatwa about anti-polio vaccination which was issued on Sept 3.

The fatwa, initialled by known religious scholars of the province, supports vaccination. But despite the fatwa, the government is facing stiff resistance and has failed to achieve its target of eradicating polio from the province.

NWFP Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, in a communication issued here on Saturday, directed the health secretary, director-general of the NWFP health services and the director of health services for Fata to mobilise the religious figures to counter rumours against the anti-polio drive.

The chief secretary considers rumours about vaccination and court cases against the anti-polio campaign as the main reasons behind the government’s failure to achieve its goals despite repeated efforts since 1994.

He regretted that despite a decree by the ulema, authorities concerned had failed to counter the propaganda against the drive, increasing the refusal rate from 4,000 in 2005 to 14,000 now. The World Health Organisation’s statistics put the number of parents who had refused to get their children vaccinated at 24,000.

Religious scholars Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmad, Maulana Mehmood Ashraf Usmani, Mufti Ghulamur Rehman, Maulana Syed Naseeb Ali Shah, Mufti Munibur Rehman, Hafiz

Hussain Madani, Qari Rohullah Madani, Dr Attaur Rehman and others had issued the decree supporting polio vaccination.

The chief secretary’s letter says: “Religious scholars should be mobilised for highlighting the fatwa as well as a Saudi government decision, making polio vaccination a must for every intending Haji.”

The authorities have been asked to launch a proactive multi-pronged policy focusing on strengthening the routine EPI and motivating the health department staff.

The chief secretary also called for improving cross-border coordination and utilisation of nine crossing points established on the Pakistan-Afghan border in Chitral and Mohmand, Khyber, North and South Waziristan, Bajaur and Kurram agencies.

He directed for capacity building of lady health workers, training of paramedical staff about the routine EPI and holding jirgas in tribal areas in collaboration with the political administration to convince people on polio vaccination.

Last year, 39 new polio cases were reported in Pakistan, 15 of them in the NWFP and the tribal areas. Four new cases of the disease have been reported in the last three months, three in Sindh and one in the NWFP.