The curious case of false marks | TNS



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The detection of five cases of poliomyelitis in Bajaur is shocking, but the discovery of traces of ink on the unvaccinated children's fingers is even more alarming.

OAfter polio, 30-month-old Mustafa, 30-month-old grandson, Khaista Khan of Talai Banda in Salarzai Subdivision of Bajaur Tribal District, regrets that the family did not get vaccinated their children. Mustafa is one of three cases reported to Bajaur in recent weeks.

"Every parent needs to vaccinate their children against polio to prevent them from becoming paralyzed until the end of their days," Khaista Khan said in a video message after learning that his family's negligence had distorted his grandson .

The investigation into Bajaur's recent cases reveals that Mustafa's house was marked "1 × 1" last December. which means that the house has a child and has been vaccinated. The fact is that there are four children at home, which has led everyone to wonder whether it was the fault of the family or the negligence of the local polio vaccination staff.

Outside of Mustafa, Nabila, 78 months old, from the same locality, is paralyzed by polio. In a third case, Abdul Rehman, aged 46 months, was detected with the disease in the same Bajaur union council in recent weeks. A total of five polio cases were reported in Bajaur last year. In response, the Bajaur authorities have already fired three government officials and four representatives of international organizations.

Other cases have been reported in other parts of the country, including three from Baluchistan and one from Karachi, Khyber, Lakki Marwat and Charsadda.

Despite thousands of workers engaged in immunization of children for many years, polio cases are still appearing across the country, revealing the negligence of the government as well as global organizations that spend billions of rupees to end the diseases. disabling.

The remote areas of the country were once the targets of the propaganda campaign that the polio vaccine caused infertility. But, at present, "almost all parents are vaccinating their children against polio," says Yousuf Ali, a resident of Utmankhel, Bajaur. He suspects that the increase in the number of polio cases in his region could be due to the limited access of vaccination teams to children.

More than 829 teams were badigned to vaccinate each child in seven Bajaur sub-divisions. These include 776 mobile teams, 41 teams working in polio clinics and 12 teams on transit points. 184 zones in charge oversee these campaigns.

"The question of false finger marking is the cause of all the problems. I asked Assistant Commissioner Peshawar to delay the campaign by two hours on the first day of the last election campaign on January 21st. We were shocked to see more than 300 cases of fake fingers tagged in just four Peshawar union councils, while none of our teams had come to vaccinate children, "said Babar Bin Atta, head of Prime Minister in charge of poliomyelitis. The new Sunday. He adds that all these parents have been listed as refusals.

"What's worrying is how parents got access to the polio markers. They are only used by polio staff, "says Atta. The authorities concerned are investigating the case and have asked the WHO to provide multicolored markers to avoid false markings in the future. In addition, he adds, "the responsibility is the key to determining why the vaccine does not reach children despite years of vaccination campaigns".

During the last campaign in PK on January 21, 2019, about 15,000 refusal cases were reported and some 70,000 children could not be vaccinated for unknown reasons. Babar Bin Atta added that 7,500 people were from Peshawar. He added, however, that there were approximately 30,000 unreached children.

Just as we were about to face the resurgence of polio cases in Bajaur, images and videos of polio vaccinators coping with extreme weather conditions and snow up to the knees to reach Targeted kids flooded social media. "I called Sahibzada Irfan Ullah [vaccinator] and the man who was doing his video. They were invited to the Prime Minister's House for lunch. Two polio agents from Swat and one from Lakki Marwat were also invited. These are the real heroes, "Atta informs.

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