KOHAT, Nov 16: Health authorities on Friday claimed to have vaccinated children against polio in Bostikhel area of the Kohat frontier region for the first time since September 2006.

“The achievement was made due to efforts made by the district coordination officer, assistant political agent and local elders,” officials said.

They said that they had vaccinated 20,000 children against the disease.

“The Bostikhel area had been inaccessible for polio teams for one year. About 4,300 children below the age of five had been missed in the last polio campaign due to refusal of their parents,” they said.

According to them, five jirgas had taken place with local elders and parents which paved the way for vaccinators to administer oral polio vaccine to children.

They said that people had been refusing polio drops in Zadrana union council due to propaganda of a local Taliban leader Maulvi Bilal.