ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities have vaccinated 15.9 million children in the first three days on an ongoing week-long anti-polio drive, the National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) said on Thursday, despite continuing attacks on policemen guarding polio teams.
Pakistan is one of two countries, along with Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, but militants have killed hundreds of police officers and health workers over the past decade as part of a campaign against the Pakistani state.
Unidentified gunmen killed two police officers protecting polio vaccination workers in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the first day of the campaign to counter rising cases, a security official said on Monday.
Pakistan launched the campaign on Monday to inoculate around 19 million children in 79 “high risk” districts across the country. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the crippling disease remains an endemic.
“The sub-national polio campaign continues on its fourth day across 79 selected districts,” the NEOC said on Thursday. “During the first three days of the polio campaign, over 15.97 million children have been vaccinated so far.”
Over 4.95 million children have received polio vaccine in 10 selected districts of Punjab, over 5.38 million in 20 selected districts of Sindh, over 3.72 million in 23 selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and over 1.51 million children have received polio drops in 25 selected districts of Balochistan, according to the NEOC.
In Islamabad, over 405,000 children have received the vaccine during the campaign that will continue till May 24, with nearly 163,000 polio workers partaking in it.
Polio, a highly infectious virus mainly affecting children under five, can result in lifelong paralysis but is easily prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of a vaccine.
There is a raft of misinformation circulating about the vaccine in rural Pakistan, including that it is a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plot to stop Muslims from having children.
“Polio is an incurable disease that can permanently disable children,” the NEOC said, urging parents and guardians: “Open your doors for polio workers and ensure your children receive polio drops.”
