Even educated avoid polio vaccines in Pak
ISLAMABAD: During the recent polio campaign held in Pakistani capital Islamabad, it was observed that a large number of educated people did not want to vaccinate their children, a report in the daily Dawn on Saturday said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner ( ADC) Abdul Sattar Isani termed the situation unfortunate and claimed that all possible steps would be taken to ensure that every child was administered the polio drops.
He said even cases were registered against those who refused the vaccination.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq said she was not in favour of registering cases as the administration of polio vaccine was a continuous process.
She requested the media to play a role to create awareness that polio vaccine is safe.
During the current year environmental samples collected from different parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were found positive for the poliovirus.
As a result, a special polio campaign was launched on 27 March in the high risk areas of the twin cities.
An official of the polio programme, requesting not to be quoted, said teams were formed to administer polio drops to every child.
“However, it was strange that we faced a strong resistance from even welleducated people. Though they did not have religious reasons but were not in favour of vaccinating their children. A majority of them claimed that they had administered polio drops privately but failed to produce a vaccination card or certificate,” he said.
Sharing an incident, he said a resident of Sector G-7/2 refused to vaccinate his son.