Sindh CM says refusal of polio vaccination by parents 'unacceptable'

Karachi, Aug 17 (PTI) Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province Murad Ali Shah on Saturday warned parents and guardians who refuse to get their children vaccinated in the ongoing anti-polio drive, saying their actions were unacceptable.

Shah said the 27 per cent refusal in 40 of the 85 high-risk union councils covered on the first day of the drive on Saturday was intolerable.

“We will not tolerate this. The plan is to vaccinate some 1.1 million children in this drive and we will not allow anyone to leave any infant at the risk of polio,” Shah said.

Shah said the health authorities and police had been directed to take action against parents and guardians who refused to vaccinate their children.

He said an action would be taken within the legal framework finalised by the law department against those who refused vaccination.

A three-day polio drive to weed out the virus was launched on Saturday in Sindh.

Pakistan is among the only handful of countries in the world which still report poliovirus cases.

An official at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio told the media that Pakistan’s anti-polio campaign had become a tragedy as the country faced internal challenges more than any potential threat from people’s movements from neighbouring Afghanistan where the situation had improved.

EOC Coordinator Irshad Sodhar said this was the reason why the virus was still circulating in the country.

He said the high rate of refusal was because of several reasons, foremost illiteracy, lack of awareness among parents about the new method adopted for vaccination, and the influence of some religious clerics who spread misinformation about the vaccine.

Pakistan has reported 14 confirmed cases and a large number of positive environmental samples this year.

Anti-polio vaccine workers and the policemen accompanying them have also been targeted by religious extremists in some parts of the country in the past, including in Karachi.

Ali Faisal Saleem, a senior paediatrician at Aga Khan University Hospital, said Pakistan could not afford negligence at this critical time else there could be a major outbreak of polio that would be difficult to control. PTI CORR PY PY PY