Sir: Over 3,000 children below the age of five years have been immunised with expired polio vaccines. This has not happened for the first time in Pakistan. On January 12, 2010, in Unb, Gaibandha, 11 children fell ill after taking expired polio vaccine supplied by the health directorate under the national immunisation programme. On August 9, 2010, three children mysteriously died in Faisalabad after a team of health functionaries had administered polio drops. On June 16, 2011, the condition of a child in Lahore deteriorated shortly after the vaccine was administered. The infant was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Despite the evidence, the authorities are claiming that expired vaccines are not deadly. Is this some kind of a joke? We hear of high sounding claims like, ‘We will go to any extent to remove the polio virus’ but this is what is happening. The lives of our children are not that cheap. HIRA HABIB Karachi