Health Workers In Pakistan Refuse To Administer Polio Vaccine

News outlets report on the halting of polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan because of security threats to health workers.

Agence France-Presse/GlobalPost: Vaccinators refuse to join polio campaign in Pakistan
“Health workers in part of a troubled Pakistani tribal region Friday refused to participate in a polio vaccination campaign because of security threats, officials said. … Efforts to stamp out the crippling disease in Pakistan have been seriously hampered by militant attacks on health workers inoculating children. The Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan in 2012, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage…” (1/10).

The National: Pakistan is new front line in war on polio
“…Since September, more than a dozen polio vaccinators or their security personnel have been killed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in north-western Pakistan and Karachi in the south. As a result, about 300,000 children have not been immunized in a country that had 91 new cases confirmed last year — more than in the world’s other two polio endemic nations, Nigeria and Afghanistan…” (Khan, 1/12).

DAWN.com: 70 workers in Khyber refuse to administer polio vaccine
“As many as 70 ‘front-line health workers’ in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency have refused to take part in a three-day polio vaccination campaign beginning in the region on Saturday, citing security concerns. … Haji Sadeeq, a spokesman for the 70 health workers, told Dawn that the circumstances, especially in Jamrud, were not favorable for his colleagues to take part in the campaign…” (Shinwari, 1/13).

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