3 confirmed in North Waziristan, one in Khyber Agency
PESHAWAR: In yet another debilitating blow to the polio eradication efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal areas, four new wild type-1 polio cases were reported in a single day from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
This took the total number of polio cases from all over the country to 43. If 15 more cases are reported, the total would cross the golden number of 58 polio cases reported last year in Pakistan.
According to official documents, a copy of which is available with The News, three new polio cases were confirmed in the restive North Waziristan Agency. One case was confirmed in Khyber Agency, taking the total number of cases reported from Fata during the current year to 31.
The documents reveal that a nine-month old child named Afghan, son of Bakhta Gul and resident of Land village in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, was diagnosed with P1 type of poliovirus. He had not been administered a single dose of the polio vaccine due to the ban imposed on immunisation by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Taliban.
Another child Ajwa, daughter of Ibrahim, was also diagnosed with the P1 strain of poliovirus. She is 16 months old female child and resident of Eidarkhel, tehsil Mir Ali, North Waziristan. She too could not receive a single dose of the polio vaccine due to the ban on immunisation.
The third polio case from North Waziristan is a one year old child named Asmina, daughter of Saidanullah and resident of Alikhel, tehsil Mir Ali. She also did not receive any dose of the polio vaccine.
Besides, a new wild type-1 polio case was confirmed by the NIH laboratory in Khyber Agency. Zulqarnain, son of Sahar Gul, is 30 months old child and resides in the area of Spin Qabar, Sipah Soorankhel village, Asghar Talab Dora, Kanday Shaikhan, Bara tehsil, Khyber Agency. The child did not receive even a single dose of the polio vaccine during the last 10 months due to the precarious security situation in the area. According to the documents, the child was administered the last dose of the polio vaccine in September last year.
The total number of polio cases in Pakistan during the current year now has reached 43. The number of P1 type of polio cases in North Waziristan has risen to 14.
North Waziristan has also reported 24 cases of Sabin Like (II) Poliomyelitis (SL2). However, due to the peculiar scientific and genetic nature of the SL2 virus strain, these cases have yet to be included in the national polio case count tally.
Interestingly, in both North Waziristan and Khyber tribal agencies where polio immunisation has been prohibited, the Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and late Maulvi Nazeer’s are considered pro-government as the authorities have signed peace accords with the groups.
Tribal sources said the recent rise in polio cases had worried the Taliban groups of Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan and Salahuddin Ayub in South Waziristan as they do not want to be blamed for polio affecting innocent children. But they felt that government officials, particularly those handling polio eradication programme, had failed to take practical measures for an end of the Taliban ban on polio vaccination.
“Our government officials are not sincere in polio eradication. They want this menace to exist so that they can mint money,” alleged tribal elder Malik Shafat.
