Pakistan to use polio vaccine checkpoints in Taliban areas

PESHAWAR: Officials said on Monday they would begin administering polio vaccines to children at security checkpoints in the tribal belt to protect against the Taliban attacks.

The announcement was made at a ceremony to mark the launch of a three-day anti-polio campaign in Peshawar, and is aimed at children from North Waziristan and other Taliban strongholds. Farakh Sair Khan, a senior administrative official for the tribal areas, told the gathering the new strategy would “vaccinate children belonging to areas that are not accessible for the polio workers.”

“North Waziristan is affected most by the polio virus and unfortunately we had not been able to vaccinate the children there for security reasons but we are trying to overcome it,” Khan said. As many as 2643 polio teams will be participating in the campaign to vaccinate children under five, he added.

“We will establish over 50 vaccination sites next to the checkpoints of security forces,” said Shahdab Younis, an official of the UNICEF said. “Establishing these sites next to security checkpoints will minimise the risk of attacks,” she added. She said the move would also pressure parents into allowing their children to be vaccinated due to the intimidating presence of armed troops.

“We have received 37 new cases of polio in the first three months of this year, 33 of them are from North Waziristan,” Younis said. “Polio vaccination was banned in North Waziristan since 2012 and the children there have not been vaccinated against polio since,” she added.

Meanwhile, a separate official said talks had begun with the army, whose co-operation would be required. “We are discussing it with the army because most of the security checkpoints belong to (them),” the official said.