EDITORIAL: The anti-polio drive could not have been resumed quickly enough considering that 60 cases have already been reported this year. Seen with the 147 cases that surfaced last year, a big question mark now hangs over the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf) government's handling of this particular problem. Only two cases were reported in each of the two years before 2019 - even though the terrorist threat to polio workers was much higher at the time - which suggests that the problem had come close to being completely solved. Yet something happened between then and now to undo all the good that was done. It seems the health ministry was right in questioning the credentials of the person appointed as the prime minister's focal person on polio, Babar bin Atta, who joined in October 2018 when everything was pretty much under control and resigned a year later when the country faced a full-blown crisis. Now the virus is not only on the ascent once again but a lot of precious time this year has been lost to coronavirus. Already, in the four months that the polio vaccination drive had remained suspended, at least 40 million Pakistani children have missed these crucial vaccinations.
And it's not as is if simply resuming the campaign will deliver instant results. Coronavirus is only one of the many problems that polio workers have faced for years. The biggest and most dangerous one is terrorism, of course, since more than a hundred workers have been killed in targeted attacks since 2012 according to records compiled by an international news organisation, including at least 10 killed since 2019 and three already this year. Then there is the refusal on the part of many parents to give the vaccine to their children. That shows another area where the government has its work cut out for it. It will have to raise an awareness campaign that reaches the farthest corners of the country and counters nonsensical extremist propaganda like taking the vaccine violates religious laws or causes infertility that scares common people away from it. Advertisements in state television and radio channels, while appreciated, are not going to do the job alone. And there's not much time to put the campaign together because every round that polio workers make under the present circumstances, with all the Covid-19 restrictions, needs to be utilised to the maximum. And it would be a great tragedy if they are turned back from homes because ordinary people still do not understand what to really believe and the virus keeps spreading.
The anti-polio drive must be made to succeed at all costs. Already the pandemic has compromised the routine vaccinations, which is why there are reports of increased cases of measles and diphtheria in all provinces and experts are beginning to fear outbreaks of preventable diseases as well. With all the problems that the country is already facing, especially since the pandemic stood everything on its head, a spread of diseases that can easily be treated is the last thing that it needs. Hopefully, the government is following a better thought-out plan of action this time and has put the right people in charge of monitoring it.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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