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Polio Vaccination banned in S Waziristan

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This underscores the need for prior education of people and inclusion of religious leaders for such campaigns.

Children suffer while these Mullahs squabble..


Polio vaccination banned in South Waziristan – The Express Tribune

WANA:
In yet another setback to the polio eradication campaign in the country, the Mullah Nazir group in Wana subdivision of South Waziristan banned polio vaccination in the agency on Monday till the United States halts all drone strikes in the tribal region.

According to the Taliban pamphlets distributed in Wana, Western powers were running a spy network in the region in the garb of immunisation. The leaflet went on to cite the example of Dr Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden by conducting a fake polio vaccination programme in Abbottabad.

Earlier, warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur banned the administration of oral polio vaccine to children in North Waziristan, also demanding cessation of US drone attacks.

The pamphlet went on to compare polio drops to sugar-coated poison, adding that Western powers had never been loyal to Muslims.

“If they [the United States and its allies] were so sincere with the Muslims, then why did they bomb us so mercilessly,” the pamphlet said.

The distributed message also gauged US sincerity, questioning why two million children had suffered in Iraq due to the lack of medicines in the 90s, referring to US sanctions on the Saddam Hussein regime.

Furthermore, the leaflet also discussed the psychological effect drone strikes have had on children in the tribal region.

“On the one hand, they are killing innocent children in drone strikes, while on the other hand they are saving their lives by vaccinating them … it’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the pamphlet said.

The decision to ban polio vaccination was taken by the higher council of North Waziristan Mujahideen, according to the pamphlet, which also warned all polio teams to bring their campaign to a close or accept responsibility for any future mishap.

A local resident, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune, that the pamphlet requested parents to avoid the vaccination of their children till drone strikes continued in Waziristan.

There has been no official reaction from the political administration or security forces till the filing of this report. (With additional input from Zulfiqar Ali)

Published In The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2012
 
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Why should there be foreign funded projects for Polio eradication in Pak ?

The National Govt should fund it and run it through religious orgnisations .

Another militant group bans polio vaccination, seeks end to drone strikes | DAWN.COM

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An Urdu-language pamphlet distributed by militants in Pakistan’s tribal regions has warned health workers to stay away from polio vaccination campaigns or face dire consequences.

“Polio and other foreign-funded vaccination drives in Wana sub division would not be allowed until US drone operations in the agency are stopped,” warned the pamphlet issued by Mullah Nazir, commander of his own faction of the Taliban in South Waziristan.

The warning is not the first to come from tribal militants since a Pakistani doctor was convicted of assisting the CIA in locating former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by running a fake polio vaccination campaign in Abbottabad last year.

Mullah Nazir’s handout calls the “traitor Dr Shakeel Afridi’s fake campaign in Abbottabad” proof that “infidel forces are using media, education and development as a tool to gag Muslims.”

A ban similar to the one in Wana was imposed earlier in North Waziristan Agency by the Hafiz Gul Bahadar faction of the Taliban, who are alleged by the United States of having close links to Al Qaeda and the Haqqani network.

The Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadar groups have remained the prime target of the US drone operations in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), as the US-led coalition forces blame the two groups of harbouring al Qaeda-linked foreign fighters besides sending them across the border into Afghanistan.

Despite global eradication, Pakistan is one of just three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.

The highly infectious disease affects mainly the under-fives and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. In some cases, it can turn fatal.

However, especially since the Abbottabad incident, militants in Pakistan tribal areas view foreign-funded vaccination campaigns with growing suspicion, with commanders like Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur linking their bans to the cessation of the much despised US drone strikes in the remote mountainous regions.

“In the garb of these vaccination campaigns, the US and its allies are running their spying networks in Fata which has brought death and destruction on them in the form of drone strikes,” says Mullah Nazir’s pamphlet.

The North Taliban Shura, or Supreme Council, had also issued a similar notification warning against polio vaccination until the US drone strikes were stopped.

The announcements by the both Taliban groups would be a serious blow to the already shaky anti-polio campaign, further deteriorating the situation in Fata where polio cases are on the rise.

During the current year so far out of 22 confirmed polio cases, 11 have been reported from Fata, with Khyber Agency on top with nine cases.

Director of the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI), Dr Janbaz Afridi, told Dawn.com that there was only one polio case in North Waziristan this year as compared to 14 last year.

“In South Waziristan, too, we have one confirmed polio affected child this year, while there were four in 2011 – an encouraging signal for the success of the drive,” said the doctor.

When asked about the renewed threat by militants, he said: “We have to wait and look out for the outcome of this new situation….but if things don’t go smoothly, it will affect the gains we have made this year.”

But the doctor, despite the bleak situation, still places his best bets on hope.

“We are using diplomatic channels and the local tribal elders to persuade those who are opposing the drive. Hopefully we shall be able to resolve the crisis at the earliest.”

The latest threat issued by the Taliban leaders may, however, become a roadblock in eradicating polio from the tribal regions.
 
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This is all because of CIA and its use of spies within the vaccination programs.

Pakistan should however engage the Edhi foundation to volunteer help since it generally has a good reputation in such causes.

Vaccinations should not end.
 
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Close this stupid thread... Mullahs that oppose the vaccination program have been kicked out by Pakistan police...
 
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This is all because of CIA and its use of spies within the vaccination programs.

Pakistan should however engage the Edhi foundation to volunteer help since it generally has a good reputation in such causes.

Vaccinations should not end.

What an excuse...
:yahoo:
 
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This is all because of CIA and its use of spies within the vaccination programs.

Pakistan should however engage the Edhi foundation to volunteer help since it generally has a good reputation in such causes.

Vaccinations should not end.

Thats just the point.

This is a programme that must go on. The Mullahs cannot let young children suffer for life with a disease that is completely avoidable all for their prejudices.

GOP must not allow foreign funding or volunteers if any but use locals. The religious establishments need to be taken on board rather than have them against it.
 
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I hope that Afridi chap is proud of himself now.

Something must be done. Negotiations should be held with these terrorists to at least allow anti polio vaccination.
 
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