According to a report in this newspaper that quotes officials of the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund, Pakistan has the largest number of polio cases in the world. It is quite shocking that among the reasons for this alarming increase in the incidence of disease is that some times, the teams fail to vaccinate all the children in their respective beats.
This happens because sometimes the families happen to be away from home. Then those who have their prejudices against vaccination who generally view it as a western plot also do not present their children for immunization. The number of such children going without immunization is seven lakh. The situation calls for a serious review of the entire vaccination programme and how to make it effective and reachable to every nook and cranny of the country. It must be ensured that all children under the specified age are immunized. While in 2010, 144 children fell prey to the disease, in 2011, the number rose to 197 which indicates that the scourge is on the rampage and if not nipped in the bud it would have the country under its ominous shadows once again. Almost a decade ago, it was planned that the disease would be totally eliminated from the country in a few years, but that has not happened. And on the contrary we see it is returning and may become more widespread. It should be mentioned that among others, the health officials also mentioned that prolonged spells of loadshedding were a serious hindrance in that they led to the wastage of the vaccine drops. However, what is shocking is that there have been certain reports revealing that the disease has hit some of the children who were vaccinated. It is alleged that there is some fault with the inoculation drops but health officials of the WHO and others have categorically denied that. However, these reservations especially in the wake of fake polio campaign by the CIA to get Osama’s DNA sample, must be fully investigated in order to restore the confidence of parents and society.
A concerted effort by the government as well as the media is needed to create awareness about the disease and how important it is for the parents to ensure that their children get polio drops. We should take a cue from the fact that even backward countries like Afghanistan have fewer number of polio patients.