AGL 37.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.68%)
AIRLINK 124.10 Increased By ▲ 2.59 (2.13%)
BOP 5.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-3.08%)
CNERGY 3.75 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.79%)
DFML 40.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-1%)
DGKC 87.10 Increased By ▲ 2.50 (2.96%)
FCCL 33.98 Increased By ▲ 1.28 (3.91%)
FFBL 66.01 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.78%)
FFL 10.20 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.49%)
HUBC 104.45 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (0.63%)
HUMNL 13.45 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (1.51%)
KEL 4.78 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (7.9%)
KOSM 6.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-3.53%)
MLCF 38.84 Increased By ▲ 1.34 (3.57%)
NBP 60.35 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.17%)
OGDC 179.65 Increased By ▲ 7.40 (4.3%)
PAEL 24.97 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.69%)
PIBTL 5.71 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.18%)
PPL 153.00 Increased By ▲ 11.31 (7.98%)
PRL 22.79 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.31%)
PTC 14.91 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.15%)
SEARL 66.85 Increased By ▲ 2.29 (3.55%)
TELE 7.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.82%)
TOMCL 35.70 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.56%)
TPLP 7.32 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.41%)
TREET 13.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-1.48%)
TRG 50.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.80 (-1.55%)
UNITY 26.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.75%)
WTL 1.23 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.82%)
BR100 9,717 Increased By 233.5 (2.46%)
BR30 29,237 Increased By 866.2 (3.05%)
KSE100 90,860 Increased By 1893.1 (2.13%)
KSE30 28,458 Increased By 630.4 (2.27%)

More than 4,000 parents have refused to administer polio drops to their children in the Quetta block that comprises of the Quetta, Pishin and Qilla Abdullah districts of northern Balochistan, Co-ordinator Balochistan Emergency Cell Dr Syed Saifur Rehman said.
This year, at least four polio cases were reported from Balochistan, three of which came from the Quetta block. Officials termed parents' refusal to administer polio drops as the underlying cause behind the aforementioned cases. Lately, polio volunteers have faced difficulties in administering the vaccine to children in various parts of the Quetta block as a number of parents have been resisting the campaign.
Most refusals have been reported from the outskirts of Quetta. These areas include Pashtoonabad, Kharotabad, Nawan Killi and others that mostly house Afghan refugees. "We have traced out the refusal cases and are trying to convince the parents," Dr Rehman said. The Balochistan government has formed refusal coverage committees to cajole the parents into allowing polio vaccines to be administered to children below the age of five years. The deputy commissioner will head the committees and religious scholars will be appointed as members of the committees to persuade parents not to resist polio vaccination for their children.
According to officials, more than 50 per cent of polio cases are occurring because of parents' refusals in the province. Meanwhile, lack of commitment, negligence on part of concerned quarters and attacks targeting polio workers are among reasons that have contributed to the re-emergence of polio in Balochistan. "No polio case would be tolerated in any part of Balochistan," Dr Rehman said. Secretary Health Balochistan Noorul Haq Baloch has taken serious notice of recent polio cases in Quetta's Pashtoonabad area and has ordered departmental action against the district health officer along with issuance of show-cause notices to other officials. He further said that up until now, a large number of parents have been persuaded by volunteers, religious scholars and other officials.
"Refusal cases are on the decline," he added. The federal government, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other bodies have taken serious notice of parents' vaccination refusals in Quetta's Pashtoonabad area and the provincial government has directed polio teams to double their efforts to ensure provision of vaccination drops to all children.

Copyright Independent News Pakistan, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.