POLIO FREE PAKISTAN, A DREAM

In a dim shop a handsome young man with clean cut brown eyes whispered ignoring other co-workers “I always wanted to be a teacher at primary school, but for me it was a dream that never came true” Sabir vehemently paddles his thin legs to accelerate sewing machine. The needle creased hastily into Soft Rajjar Khadar, a local made cloth. Things are moving around him but his dreams are still in static position. Sabir Khan 29 years old with strong muscle polio effected man living in a remote village of District Charsadda, in northern Pakistan, a region with full of fundamental extremist ideologies. He was diagnosed with polio when he was just two months old; at that time there was no polio campaign, he said painfully. Few years back his parents passed away. He is currently living with his spouse Shabana and younger brother, Amjid Ali; who is also a polio victim.

“Every day a new case appears in different parts of Pakistan, lots of occurring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Who can understand the life of polio victim better than me, Sabir Khan while expressing his grief added? He adds that in every field due to polio he is behind from a winning smile and also cannot adore the ecstasy of life. He is worried and doubtful due to the current increase in polio cases. “I have reservation on the new cases because polio emergency has already been declared by the government of Pakistan.

Quandary in Polio campaign

In Pakistan first Polio immunization campaign started in 1974 during the era of Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto, but its eradication officially commenced only in 1993. In last 21 year Pakistan could not have taken effective measures against polio and in result lots of children became victim of polio. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has imposed travel ban on Pakistani citizens. It is mandatory for child and adult to provide polio vaccination certificate while traveling abroad. According to ministry of health department, 217 cases of polio have been reported in the current year in Pakistan, 144 reported only in KP and FATA. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and FATA declared the most sensitive areas where polio virus active. On the other side of border only 12 cases were reported in Afghanistan and six in Nigeria during the current year. While India has been declared polio free Country in this year.
In Pakistan regular campaigns are continue for several years but government still is unable to tackle polio virus.

Pakistan is one of three countries where poliomyelitis (polio) is still categorized as an endemic viral infection. Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, polio monitor and technical focal person of Chief Minister of KP, said after testing different parts of Peshawar the Capital city of KP province water sample the most dangerous polio virus found here. Provincial government Special Health initiative Program name “Sehat ka Insaf” (Health Justice) on the weekly bases we arranged special polio campaign to cope with virus. According to Elias Durry head of WHO polio campaign in Pakistan, having two decades of experience as a polio eradication expert in over 10 countries, Said “If we could have only five months to have really good campaigns, then we could get rid of this disease,” On the other side Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah said that “owing to militancy in Khyber agency hundreds of families displaced and settled in Peshawar, their children were not vaccinated in their home town that’s why IDP’s children are more vulnerable to polio virus” Dr Imtiaz Ali added we lunched short term polio campaign in selected union council of Peshawar. “Afghans Refugees are also living in Peshawar which another case of polio in Peshawar” Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah added. Experts say there is another reason for the sharp spike in cases of the crippling disease in Pakistan this year – government mismanagement.

Bin laden factor

In May 2011 operations Geronimo, US Marine hunt down Osama Bin Ladan in Abbot Abad Northern city of Pakistan. Shakeel Afridi, a physician who helped the CIA run a fake polio vaccine program in Abbottabad, Pakistan, to confirm Osama bin Laden’s presence in the city by obtaining DNA samples. After this incident, news spread that US intelligence used a fake polio vaccination. Thatpolio campaign was actual or fakebut that practice damage and made doubtful polio campaign in Pakistan. Some people still belief that US intelligence is using polio campaign to hunt Taliban. Another misperception is from religious clerics in some parts of KPK & FATA, said that western powers want to be impotent and reduce population of our next generations throw these drops. These entire allegations dismissed by WHO, health department and seasoned doctors in Pakistan. Most religious scholars around the world declared that polio vaccine is effective in Islamic point of view. But due to some rumors now some elements regularly targeting polio campaign volunteers, Ladies Health workers and their security guards were target in different parts of Pakistan. According to official numbers 50 polio vaccination volunteers have been killed since 2012. The Taliban threatens to kill parents who have their children vaccinated is some part of Pakistan.

Government response

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed confidence that the government has “adequate capacity” and is undertaking suitable measures to soon make Pakistan polio-free and reverse the trend of spread of polio virus. “We owe this to our people, our children and the world community,” Previous government also did their best to eradicate polio but in vain. Government declared polio emergency in Pakistan but the dilemma is that beside the improvement the number of polio cases increased every year. We double polio campaign reached to every district but the number of polio case increases. Polio free Pakistan is dream for every Pakistani.

To control polio and to bring smile on face of like hundreds of Sabir and to fulfill their dreams; government, religious scholars and opinion makers need to work for polio free Pakistan.