ISLAMABAD: Deploring a recent uptick in attacks on polio inoculation teams, Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar has called for vaccinators to be provided with intelligence support to ensure their safety.

Blaming security issues and the prevailing political instability for the sorry state of polio campaigns across the country, she said, “Polio campaigns in a number of cities – including Faisalabad and Karachi – have been postponed due to of sit-ins, protests and public meetings because it is very difficult to provide security to polio workers under such circumstances.”

“We have reached the conclusion that intelligence support is essential to stop attacks on polio teams because all these attacks, such as the ones in Faisalabad and Quetta, were planned and it is very likely that these were hatched in the tribal areas,” she claimed.

Seven new cases detected; Pakistan’s polio count this year may cross 300 for the first time since 1998

Referring to the kind of security arrangements in place for the Chehlum of Imam Hussain, Ms Tarar said that polio vaccinators needed to have a similar level of security. “I have met with the interior minister and have requested him to arrange for us to receive intelligence reports regarding potential attacks on vaccinators, beforehand,” she said.

New cases

As many as seven new cases of polio have been confirmed by Polio Virology Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

A health department official told Dawn that four cases have been confirmed from Fata and three =from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The first case was 13-month-old Rehan, son of Dedan Gul, from the UC Shalpin, Tarogay village, Khwazakhela tehsil, of Swat.

The second child diagnosed with polio is the 11-month-old Eid Gul, son of Gul Muhammad, resident of Toi Khwla village in South Waziristan.

The third case is Ihtesham, son of Muhammad Hussain. The five-month-old is a resident of the Shahkas, village, Haji Sher Kalay in the Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.

The fourth child who has been confirmed with polio is the 21-month-old Abdul Mateen, son of Mohammad Farooq, a resident of the Kalanga area in the Pewara Meri Khel village of Bara tehsil in the Khyber Agency.

Two more cases from Peshawar and another from the Khyber Agency were also confirmed on Saturday evening, an NIH official told Dawn.

Darkest year since 1998

2014 is shaping up to be the darkest year for the Pakistan polio programme, with a strong possibility that the number of confirmed cases may cross the 300 mark – which will be the highest number of cases reported from the country since 1998. This year, 173 polio cases have been reported from the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) alone, with 50 cases emerging September alone.

However, an official from the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said that the calendar year for the polio count begins on February 1 and ends on the following January 31, indicating that by the time the tally is finalised, this year’s count may be well above 300.

“Since 2011 a number of steps have been taken by the government and other stakeholders, but the number of polio cases keeps rising every year. In 2012, we had 58 reported cases. That number jumped to 93 in 2013 and current tally for 2014 stands at 283,” he said.

The official said that an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been established to oversee efforts to stem the spread of the crippling virus. The Prime Ministers Polio Cell and district Polio Eradication Committees had also formed and both district administrations and military personnel had been engaged to counter the spread of polio, he said.

“Unfortunately, there is lack of political will and planning, which is leading to more and issues with the programme and making the eradication of polio an uphill task,” he said.

“In October 2014 the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), which works on behalf of international donor agencies, demonstrated grave concern over the performance of government in the fight against polio and suggested that the country take concrete steps for the eradication of disease,” he said.

Published in Dawn December 14th , 2014