Thursday, November 6, 2014

Taliban’s Anti-Polio Stance Endangers KP, FATA Children

Pakistan
Pakistan


Taliban’s Anti-Polio Stance Endangers KP, FATA Children

http://www.eurasiareview.com/05112014-talibans-anti-polio-stance-endangers-kp-fata-children/

By
by Ashfaq Yusufzai




 

Taliban opposition to the oral polio vaccine (OPV) continues to endanger the lives of Pakistani children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).


Pakistan has recorded the most cases it has seen in the past 14 years, reporting 231 so far this year by the end of October, Dr. Muhammad Sarwar, a doctor associated with the anti-polio campaign in FATA, said, noting that FATA tops the nation with 150 cases.

“The Taliban’s opposition to polio vaccination in Pakistan’s tribal region has put children around the world at the knife’s edge,” he said.

Militancy in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, the only three countries where polio is endemic, is the main force preventing the crippling disease’s complete eradication, Dr. Elias Durry, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) senior co-ordinator for polio in Pakistan, said.

“The only way to eradicate polio is mass immunisation of children,” he said.

Victims condemn TTP

The militants’ headstrong stance is provoking anger among parents.

“We curse the Taliban for depriving my child of vaccine,” said Sultan Shah, a North Waziristan man whose 18-month-old son Akram Shaw, tested positive for polio in June 2012. “The Taliban are proven enemies of children.”

Shah is not alone in condemning the TTP.

Jehandad Khan’s 1-year-old son was diagnosed with the crippling ailment in September because health workers did not visit his home for fear of Taliban violence.

“The majority of parents blame the Taliban for exposing children to polio,” the Khyber Agency resident said.

The continuing fight to eradicate polio also carries a high cost.

Pakistan September 5 approved a three-year (2014-2017) Rs. 7 billion (US $68m) vaccination programme, Dr. Altaf Bosan, head of Pakistan’s vaccination programme, said.

“We could have allocated this money to prevent other childhood diseases had we eradicated polio,” he said.

Taliban reject pro-OPV fatwas

Islamic scholars from around the world have united in the polio fight, recently issuing a joint fatwa favouring immunisation, but the Taliban aren’t heeding the edicts, FATA Health Director Dr. Pervez Kamal told Central Asia Online.

“It is the Islamic duty of parents to safeguard their children against diseases and make sure that they stay healthy,” the edict, signed in Islamabad, said. “Therefore, parents must protect their children against vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”

Refusals to vaccinate have wrought havoc on children’s health in FATA, KP, Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, one of the September 25 edict’s signers, said.

Signees urged the public to defy the Taliban and vaccinate their children, noting that 57 Islamic countries had eliminated polio using the same vaccine.

“The vaccine has been approved by scientists from Islamic universities and has proven efficacy,” it said.

It is shameful that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has rejected some 800 edicts by Islamic scholars, Sami-ul-Haq said.

“However, I hope that sense will prevail,” he said.

Central Asia Online
CentralAsiaOnline.com is a website sponsored by USCENTCOM to highlight movement toward greater regional stability both through bilateral and multilateral cooperative arrangements. CentralAsiaOnline.com also focuses on developments that hinder both terrorist activity and support for terrorism in the region. This site features news from across and about the region and features analysis, interviews and commentary by paid CentralAsiaOnline.com correspondents. It is designed to provide a regional audience with a portal to a broad range of information about future stability in the region.

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