Vaccinators refuse to join polio campaign in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 10, 2014 (AFP) - Health workers in part of a troubled Pakistani tribal region Friday refused to participate in a polio vaccination campaign because of security threats, officials said.
The three-day campaign in the Khyber tribal district is due to start on Saturday, almost three weeks after gunmen shot dead a worker while he was administering polio drops and vaccines to children in the town of Jamrud.
Efforts to stamp out the crippling disease in Pakistan have been seriously hampered by militant attacks on health workers inoculating children.
The Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan in 2012, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage.
“The employees at the civil hospital in Jamrud swore on oath that they will not join the campaign owing to serious security threats,” a senior health official in the region told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He said these employees recently held talks with the local administration and demanded better security and higher wages for health workers. He said the campaign would be launched according to schedule in Bara and Landi Kotal towns of Khyber from Saturday.
Efforts to stamp out the crippling disease in Pakistan have been seriously hampered by militant attacks on health workers inoculating children