ISLAMABAD: Polio workers across Pakistan were instructed to remain vigilant after multiple attacks on vaccination teams killed at least three people this week.
The latest victim, a polio worker, was killed in Balochistan this morning following separate attacks targeting health workers in the country earlier this week that resulted in the deaths of two police officers.
Security officials in Pakistan told AFP that authorities have instructed polio teams to remain vigilant at all times. The attacks come days after more than 25,000 children were rushed to hospitals in KPK after rumors spread that some had suffered reactions to a polio vaccine.
“We have a communication challenge, it’s a mistrust issue,” said Baber Atta, who is helping oversee the country’s vaccination drive. Atta said at least 260,000 health workers are involved in the vaccination campaign with some 150,000 police escorting the teams.
However, he added that hundreds of thousands of children were likely to go unvaccinated during the current drive. “There is a serious lack of trust among the parents,” he said.
Polio is endemic in only three countries in the world Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, although a relatively rare strain was also detected in Papua New Guinea at the end of last year.
