Rising polio result of killing of health workers: official

The year 2014 has been the toughest year for Pakistan's anti-polio programme with the number of cases touching a record high because of the target killing of health workers by the militants, an official said.
More than 60 polio workers, law enforcing personnel and civilians, 34 only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been killed in attacks on polio teams in the country, said Imtiaz Ali Shah, Technical focal person of polio for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The main component of the programme that was adversely affected by the security situation was communications apart from the operations, he said.
The communications plan underwent major shift from high profile to the low profile while all those influential people who were openly supporting and speaking in favour of polio eradication went into hibernation, he added.

However, the killings instead of having demoralising effect on these front line workers further strengthened their resolve for defeating polio, he said.
But it would be unrealistic to say that the security issues had not affected quality of campaigns as large number of children were missed in every round of anti-polio drive, Shah added.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was taken in 1988 when 126 countries of the world were affected with polio and set 2000 as deadline for polio eradication but we are yet to achieve the status of polio free country along with two others -Afghanistan and Nigeria, Shah said.

It was in this backdrop that prompted all the stakeholders to sit together and come up with concrete recommendations.
He said that the Prime Minister Focal Person is now leading the programme from the front while Emergency Operation Centres are in the process of establishment at the provincial level that would bring together all stakeholders under one roof.
Though the country has recorded 295 cases so far it remains to be seen that before the start of operation in North Waziristan agency the national polio case count was 75 with 57 cases in Fata and 12 in KP.
Majority of the cases have been reported from areas that are inaccessible due to security related issues such as North Waziristan agency, Khyber Agency, FR Bannu and parts of South Waziristan agency, Shah said.

The movement of people in and out of these inaccessible areas is the source of virus transmission, he said.
The districts and agencies where the administration and health department has performed well has reported zero cases.