1,000 cops to provide 'foolproof' security to polio workers

Amid serious security threats and coping with increasing attacks on polio workers in different parts of the country, the Punjab police have placed services of almost 1,000 cops at the disposal of the City District Government to provide foolproof security for anti-polio campaign in the provincial metropolis which started from Monday.

In April this year, the federal government had not only suspended the anti-polio campaign "for an indefinite period" but also suspended the post-campaign evaluation - Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) - across the country following a series of attacks on polio teams.

Sharing information about the new development, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Rai Babar Saeed told Business Recorder on Monday that "a contingent of 1,000 cops has been provided to the city district government" that will provide security to the polio vaccinating teams. "During the anti-polio campaign, the vehicles of police stations, including motorbikes, will also be used for effective patrolling around the teams," the DIG said, adding that Dolphin Squad and Police Response Unit (PRU) teams would also perform similar duties around concerned union councils. "Effective arrangements have been made to provide foolproof security to the anti-polio teams."

In July, the Shadbagh police arrested a former union council chairman and his nephew for harassing and beating a team of polio workers. They reportedly thrashed Deputy District Health Officer Dr Asad and his workers when they were administering anti-polio drops to children in a door-to-door campaign. Similarly, in April, a suspect named Abdullah attacked a two-member polio team, comprising Fatima and Idrees, with a knife after exchanging harsh words. In his statement to police, the suspect said that "there was virus in polio vaccination which is killing the children". In May, a citizen identified as Sohail thrashed and locked a polio vaccinating team in his house in Samnabad.

The federal government in April had started a five-day anti-polio drive, targeting 40 million children for immunization across the country. However, around 700,000 children for the first time in history were either missed or their families refused to get their children vaccinated in Punjab alone, putting lives of many children at risk of contracting the crippling disease.