PESHAWAR: Non-vaccination of children in the militancy-stricken Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) could spoil the major anti-polio initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The massive immunisation of children through Sehat Ka Insaf programme can not protect children against poliovirus for long as far as children in Fata would stay without oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Two new cases, one each from North Waziristan Agency and Bannu, were recorded on Thursday, bringing the total number of nationwide cases to 41. This also worried the authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who are carrying out aggressive immunisation campaigns.

According to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan had recorded only six polio cases till this date in 2013 against 41 this year, which reflects an increase of 900 per cent.

Children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain at risk of polio despite immunisation till the government makes arrangements to administer OPV to children in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency.

The rapid increase in polio cases in 2014 poses a serious challenge to the health authorities and the UN agencies engaged in immunisation campaigns.

Of the country’s total tally so far this year, Fata has 33 polio cases, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa six and Sindh one.

North Waziristan where children risk poliomyelitis due to ban on vaccination by Taliban since June 2012, has also been putting at risk children in the adjacent districts like Bannu.

The virus found in children there comes from North Waziristan where it is in full circulation. About 160,000 children have stayed unimmunised due to which the tribal agency had registered 33 cases of the total 65 detected in Fata in 2013. A total of 30 cases have been reported from Waziristan so far in 2014.

In such a scenario, immunisation of children there is the only solution.

However, there is no tangible effort to resume vaccination and safeguard not only local children in Waziristan, but also the ones in the adjacent districts.

Health authorities are finding it extremely hard to cope with the situation in the province as despite five immunisation campaigns since January 2014, Bannu has been recording cases.

There are even mobile vaccination teams tasked to administer OPV to children entering and leaving Bannu.

Vaccination in Bannu will remain ineffective till the government convinces Taliban that immunisation is the right of children to protect them against disabilities.

The authorities have pinned hopes on the government-Taliban talks and want that resumption of polio immunisation in Fata should be made part of the agenda.

Similarly, the children covered through Sehat Ka Insaf programme in Peshawar are also at risk because of no immunisation in nearby Khyber Agency.

The vaccinated children in Peshawar could stay safe for a few months due to mass immunisation, but in the longer run they will stand exposed to looming virus from Khyber Agency.

As such, North Waziristan and Khyber Agency are two major areas of concern for the health managers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.