PESHAWAR: The district administration Khyber has finalized all preparations for a seven-day polio campaign starting from January 24,2022 under which about 210,000 children would be administered anti-polio drops. In this connection additional commissioner Khyber Noor Wali Khan chaired a meeting at the Commissioner Office which was attended by District Health Officer Dr. Qasim Abbas, Tehsil […]
Polio
Four Afghan polio vaccinators shot dead
At least four people were killed Tuesday in a string of targeted attacks on polio workers in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, the second assault on vaccinators in the area in less than three months. The polio workers were gunned down in three different locations over two hours, in a “co-ordinated attack”, Nangarhar police spokesman Farid […]
KP IGP seeks report into killing of two policemen in Mardan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Chief Sanaullah Abbasi on Wednesday taking notice of firing on the anti-polio team and the killing of two policemen in the incident, sought a report from DIG and DPO Mardan. Condemning the incident, IGP said that it was a cowardly attack by the terrorists and assured that soon the culprits involved in […]
Attack on Pakistan polio vaccine team kills two policemen
Two policemen were shot dead while escorting a polio vaccination team in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, the second such attack this year. Healthcare workers flanked by a security detail were going door to door in a village near the city of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when they came under attack. Polio has been eradicated across the […]
Sub-national polio immunization campaign to start from Monday
ISLAMABAD: A sub-national polio immunization drive will start from June 7 (Monday) to vaccinate over 33 million children under the age of five across Pakistan. Sharing details, Polio Program National Coordinator Dr Shehzad Baig said that the campaign will be carried out in 124 districts and approximately 223,000 frontline workers will be participating in the […]
Anti-polio vaccination campaign starts today
FAISALABAD: As many as 1.327 million children under 5 years of age would be administered polio vaccine drops in the district during the next National Anti Polio Campaign which would be continued from 07 to 11 June. This was told by Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali while inaugurating the anti-polio campaign at Hilal e Ahmar Maternity […]
In Afghanistan, conspiracy theories fuel polio outbreak
Two-year-old Farid should have been vaccinated against polio, but his family — like many in rural Afghanistan — believed the conspiracy theories and refused to have him inoculated. He contracted the virus, and now faces a crippling life sentence battling a potentially fatal disease with no cure. “When the doctors told me he had polio, […]
Polio official shot dead in Bajaur
A polio monitoring official was killed late Saturday night when unidentified men opened fire on him in Mamund area of Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday. According to police, the body has been handed over to the deceased’s family after medico-legal formalities. This dangerous hostility to immunisation teams flared last […]
Origins of the polio conspiracy narrative
An important lesson of history is that rumours of a conspiracy against large segments of population can only be ignored at great peril. Neglect on this front can easily lead to anarchy and bedlam. In 1857, for instance, the rumour that the new cartridges used cow and pig fat, insulted the pride of both Hindu […]
Paediatricians complain 19.5 m children not being administered vaccinations
In a statement issued to commemorate World Immunisation Week, on Monday, paediatricians remarked, “Vaccines are the most affordable solution when it comes to preventing certain health hazards like polio, measles, whooping cough, diarrhoea and pneumonia.” Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA) President, Professor Gohar Rehman, also the Paediatrics HOD of Hayatabad Medical Complex asserted, “Vaccines prevent six […]