Security vulnerability mars anti-Polio drive

Poliovirus circulation is restricted to transmission zones in NWFP and FATA and areas bordering Afghanistan, which present a major risk to the other polio free areas, said the expert.  
Polio teams in the conflict zones were kidnapped in the past, a few polio workers were killed and parents in these areas were threatened of dire consequences if they co-operated with the polio teams remarked an official working with the program in NWFP. Where there is no peace and the life of the communities is threatened, health comes low down on the priorities.
The official lamented that the agreement reached with the local Taliban not to harm health campaigns like routine immunization for children and the polio campaign was not honored and on the contrary the militants continued kidnapping and harassing polio teams in these areas.
The authorities have of late embarked on a strategy to bolster the polio drive in settled areas of the country where the virus has been reintroduced from the conflict zones. The number of National Immunization Rounds is being increased and their quality improved with special outbreak response plans to protect children in re-infected areas said a senior official with the Polio Eradication Initiative.
Overall the strategy has been modified to target travelling children at all Highways and Motorways Toll Plazas, Bus stops, district border crossings, airports and railway stations, he remarked. EPI Pakistan has synchronized all campaigns with Afghanistan to ensure optimal results.
However he opined that unless peace is restored in these areas no health service would be able to reach the hapless people and the areas would continue to harbour diseases and viruses that would keep spilling over to other areas of the country through movement of displaced persons.