PESHAWAR: The three-day polio vaccination drive which was due to start on Saturday in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was postponed until Jan 14. The office of the district administration cited technical reasons for the postponement.

However, some sources said the vaccination drive was postponed because lady health workers refused to participate in it owing to security reasons in the wake of the recent attacks on polio workers and other non-governmental organisations.

On the other hand, the government has promised to provide security to polio teams but the teams have remained reluctant to participate.

Polio vaccination drives have however continued in many districts of KP and in the Bajaur tribal region for the past three days.

Polio teams were attacked continually in several parts of Pakistan during December 2012.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, but efforts to tackle the highly infectious crippling disease have been hampered over the years by local suspicion as well as pressure and threats from insurgent groups.