Not closing down operations in Baluchistan: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) today dismissed reports that it was suspending operations in Pakistan's troubled Baluchistan province following the killing of four polio workers.

"WHO would like to categorically dispel the notion of closing down or withdrawing its operations in Baluchistan or anywhere else in Pakistan, Dr Michel Thieren, WHO representative in Pakistan, said in a statement.

He also claimed that the WHO was only applying 'a standard and routine measure to limit its staff and contractor's exposure to any unsettled security situation'.

"Such [a] measure intends to take the needed time to analyse in depth the event and its aftermath, and to explore working environment ahead of a prompt reversal of the measure taken," he said in the statement.

The statement said the WHO remained committed to its goal of eradicating polio from Pakistan.

A health official from Quetta had said that the WHO has suspended its operations in Balochistan due to security threats to polio workers.

The attack happened yesterday on the eastern outskirts of provincial capital Quetta when a team of seven polio workers was getting ready to launch the fourth and final day of the campaign when two men riding a motorbike opened fire on their vehicle, killing four.

After the yesterday's deadly attack, polio vaccinators refused to go back to work unless they are assured of greater security.