'Fighting polio'

This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial "Fighting polio" carried by the newspaper on Thursday. The newspaper has made interned comment on impediments for implementation of polio programme. According to it, considering that over a year ago, the poliovirus was on the retreat, the problem seems to be administrative slackness. The major hindrance, however, has been community resistance, especially in KP and parts of Sindh, where the incidence of polio was the first and second highest, respectively, in 2019. Parents refuse to have their children administered polio drops due to religious extremists' propaganda that polio vaccination is a Western scheme to reduce Muslim population by rendering Muslim children infertile. If that is not bad enough, these people have killed several health workers and their police escorts vaccination campaigns.

It is a fact that polio campaigns have attracted strong resistance from certain communities. But their fears are understandable. The situation therefore underscores the need for a sustained dialogue between reluctant families and health authorities. I'm sure sustained education efforts through community engagement will certainly successfully persuade reluctant people to end their resistance to polio vaccination.