Pak arrests parents for saying no to vaccinate kids against polio

Peshawar, March 3

Pakistan authorities have arrested hundreds of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children against polio, officials said Tuesday, as community opposition and Taliban threats block efforts to eradicate the crippling disease in one of its last strongholds.

Frustrated officials turned to the police to deal with parents influenced by some clerics who decry government vaccination campaigns as a tool to weaken Islam, according to Pervez Kamal, director of health for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region in the northwest.

“There was no other option. We have run so many awareness campaigns for the parents and general masses that there is no harm in the vaccine, but to no avail,” Kamal said.

Pakistan reported 306 polio cases last year, far and away the largest share of the 359 cases worldwide recorded by the Global Eradicate Polio Initiative.

Kamal said on Tuesday that a list of “chronic” refusal cases has been prepared and warrants issued for more than 1,000 parents.

“So far, we have arrested 471 parents and efforts are under way to capture others,” a police officer in Peshawar said.

Once a common childhood disease, polio — which can cause paralysis and mostly affects children under age five — has declined by 99 per cent in the last 25 years with aggressive vaccination campaigns, according to the WHO.

Polio has made a comeback in Pakistan since the Taliban began targeting government health workers conducting vaccine campaigns. — PTI