Tribal jirga backs vaccination ban

[truthseer]

Volunteers students social workers,health workers,NGO.

Yes, people will volunteer to visit tribal areas filled with terrorists and people that could shoot you and label you a western agent

 

[mjnaushad]

Area being war zone is not valid reason even people have worked for polio campaign in killing fields of manipur jharkhand chattisgarh(it used to be south MP before).And as i said before fear of espionage can not be the valid reason to sacrifice the campaign in the region.if not polio campaign foreign powers will find another way for espionage.

Volunteers students social workers,health workers,NGO.

Are you saying Pakistanis haven't..... they did but its difficult..... As far I remember some even lost their life. Pakistan Govt is not sacrificing campaign because of the reason, They are not sacrificing at all. It just made a difficult task more difficult for govt.

 

[ajtr]

Yes, people will volunteer to visit tribal areas filled with terrorists and people that could shoot you and label you a western agent

No dont tell me that There are no local NGO's in FATA.

Are you saying Pakistanis haven't..... they did but its difficult..... As far I remember some even lost their life. Pakistan Govt is not sacrificing campaign because of the reason, They are not sacrificing at all. It just made a difficult task more difficult for govt.

Fata already has military deployment y not use the MH facilitity for vaccination there.After all india did use MH in kashmir for vaccination campaign.

 

[Bhairava]

After all india did use MH in kashmir for vaccination campaign.

Well Kashmiris dont go about brandishing AKs, LMGs, RPGs etc in public as jewelry...

 

[truthseer]

Fata already has military deployment y not use the MH facilitity for vaccination there.After all india did use MH in kashmir for vaccination campaign.

No thanks, we don't want RAW agents to enter our headquarters

And have you checked the comparative sizes? FATA is bigger

 

[ajtr]

And have you checked the comparative sizes? FATA is bigger

Not big as MP.10 FATAs will combine to form MP even in size and population.If our volunteer can achieve it in MP then sure MH can do it easily in FATA

Well Kashmiris dont go about brandishing AKs, LMGs, RPGs etc in public as jewelry...

Who will publicly brandish AK-47 RPG in public when there is military deployment.Not even sanjay dutt could do it in mumbai.

 

[Tshering22]

People still won't come to the camps. According to them it contains one or more than one of the following
1) Alcohol
2) Pork
3) Steriliser
4) Urine
5) Cow's Urine
6) Human flesh
7) Semen
8) Poison
9) Polio itself

Well then the onus to educate people about the misconceptions they have, is on your government. Think about it, just because of some chauvinist oldies sitting in tribal panchayats, would you as a Pakistani like to see young generation suffering from such a dangerous disease?

If they don't listen to you by coercing, use force.

Sometimes good has to be done only through force, which people don't realize initially but once they start benefiting, they'd trust.

 

[truthseer]

Well then the onus to educate people about the misconceptions they have, is on your government. Think about it, just because of some chauvinist oldies sitting in tribal panchayats, would you as a Pakistani like to see young generation suffering from such a dangerous disease?

If they don't listen to you by coercing, use force.

Sometimes good has to be done only through force, which people don't realize initially but once they start benefiting, they'd trust.

Don't think force is necessary. We just need to isolate those areas which don't get their kids these vaccines. Make it necessary for admission in Universities and get some sort of Vaccination card as mandatory. Make it mandatory for travel to different provinces too. In the end, they'll have to take it

 

[ajtr]

Don't think force is necessary. We just need to isolate those areas which don't get their kids these vaccines. Make it necessary for admission in Universities and get some sort of Vaccination card as mandatory. Make it mandatory for travel to different provinces too. In the end, they'll have to take it

That will be true discrimination

 

[truthseer]

That will be true discrimination

Well, they don't need to be discriminated against. They could just take the vaccines and end this disease once and for all

 

[ajtr]

Well, they don't need to be discriminated against. They could just take the vaccines and end this disease once and for all

What u r proposing amounts to racial discrimination.

 

[truthseer]

What u r proposing amounts to racial discrimination.

It's not racial.
The problem is not only in FATA, I can show you areas in Karachi too where this happens.

 

[ajtr]

It's not racial.
The problem is not only in FATA, I can show you areas in Karachi too where this happens.

Any form of segregation amounts to discrimination.

 

[ajtr]

Don’t play God with the lives of innocent children

I deserve a chance at normalcy too, i deserve the polio vaccine. PHOTO: REUTERS
As the rest of the world rockets forward, we in Pakistan seem to be heading backwards. Neighbouring countries like India and Bangladesh having grappled with the issue of polio, are now on the path of enjoying a polio free ride. On the other hand, Pakistan is one of the three nations, along with Nigeria and Afghanistan, which still remains ridden with the polio endemic.

Unfortunately, even struggling for complete eradication may not be possible under the current circumstances prevailing in the country.

Recently, North Waziristan imposed a polio ban in the area as a protest against drone strikes. Apart from this, hundreds of tribal people boycotted polio vaccinations in protest against loadshedding in the Drazinda village. Local elders of Sherani tribe held a jirga in Drazinda Bazaar and subsequently decided to kick out polio teams from D I Khan. Condemning the campaign as a cover for espionage, militants banned vaccinations in North and South Waziristan, risking the health of 240,000 children. Officials said that a further 110,000 children in Khyber Agency also risked going without the vaccine, because of fighting between government troops and warlord Mangal Bagh.

No doubtt, concerned individuals have the right to officially register their protests against drone strikes, Dr Afridi’s betrayal or even against loadshedding, but the method sought is not justified. Turning your gun towards the future of innocent children who are in no way directly or indirectly responsible for any of the problems above mentioned is unwarranted, unjust and deplorable.

How would banning polio drops in the area to little kids make a difference to the situation of drone attacks?

Is it not akin to hitting your own foot with an axe?

How will this help to stop drone attacks, generate more electricity or prevent more Dr Afridis from being recruited?

How is risking one’s own child’s health a way of avenging the atrocities of the aggressors?

A friend tweeted recently saying:

“Taliban want to kick US outta Afghanistan/Pakistan but they never know kicking with polio affected legs is quite impossible ‪#PolioBan”

Tribal elder Qadir Khan told a gathering of more than 120 elders and religious scholars in Miramshah that drone strike were not only a concern for the Taliban but also for the tribal people. He further stated that:

Polio vaccination will be banned until drone attacks are stopped.

Maamoor Khan, another tribal elder stated in an attempt to reason the ban:

Drones martyr so many children, while polio afflicts one or two out of hundreds of thousands.

However, my question is, does one or a few insincere health professionals justify ignorance of a disease that currently prevails in our society?

I wish that these people would understand that they are only hurting themselves by crippling their own children.

They, however, argue that drones kill more children than polio does.

As true as that may be, the murder of children through drones is criminal, but crippling them for life is torture.

Is this really the easiest way out? Kicking out the unarmed sincere medical personnel, and lashing out at unaware innocent children, both of whom will not be able to defend their fate?

As a medical professional, I can only scream and shout this much and no more; I can only yell out that they have no right to aggressively jeopardise the health of one innocent at the cost of another through hostility.

Which sect of Islam validates this method of avenging a wrong? Usurping the right to a quality life from a young child is not your right to begin with. Who gave you the authority to play God with their lives?

I am aghast that there are educated people on Twitter who are justifying the polio vaccination ban.

‪It isn’t petty politics for which politicians, civil society, liberals or conservatives, or the general public should not speak up; its the lives of 200,000 children, its their future and ours. If not for Pakistan, then for humanity, I beg you, speak up!

 

[ajtr]

Born at a wrong time

RAWALPINDI, July 20: Imranullah, 28, recalls the tragic day of his life when he was struck by the crippling polio virus about 23 years back, and wishes to have been born in the age when polio vaccines are administered to children at their doorsteps.

Blessed with a tall stature, shining hair, fair face and bright eyes, Imran cannot walk normally as his right leg is paralysed and is much thinner than the left leg due to the polio attack.

“The thing that makes me sad is that my parents and even doctors could not diagnose when the virus struck me. Perhaps polio was not so well known disease at that time. I can recall the day when my parents rushed me to a hospital in Peshawar and came back with some tablets and syrup advised by the doctors,” says Imranullah, who works as an OG-III officer in the National Bank of Pakistan’s Saddar branch in Rawalpindi.

With polio immunisation campaign concluded on Thursday, Imran says his parents would have taken him to the health workers for oral intake of the anti-virus vaccine, regretting that his childhood days were different and there was no awareness of the disease as it is today.

The polio virus has not only left Imran disabled but has also affected him psychologically and he is continuously trying to cover his disability from colleagues and onlookers. “I don’t want to wear trousers as it make my thigh and hip look smaller than my normal leg; therefore, I prefer to put on shalwar qameez that conceals my disability,” he remarked.

Born in a Pashtun society in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where disability is considered as a weakness and sometimes an abuse, Imran says his favourite sports was cricket but he always played at home with brothers and sisters as no team in the village would enlist him.

“I was a good batsman but not a good bowler and fielder as I could not run fast. In the village, you are required to be a perfect man. So each team would hesitate about my inclusion. I was very upset and then my parents told me to play on the premises of my home,” the young Imran told this reporter while performing his duty at the cash counter of the bank on Friday.

In the workplace, there is no relief for the polio-affected official as he works with full energy like his normal colleagues though prolonged sitting in the chair makes more trouble for Imran. At times, he suffers from ‘light-headedness’ due to rush of customers and shortage of staff.

General Manager Human Resource NBP Regional Office Iftikhar Mian, when contacted, acknowledged that shortage of staff was making problem. However, he added that Imranullah had been advised to leave his seat for a while during working hours for relaxation.

Dr Tahir Ghaffar Khattak, a medical specialist, said polio-affected people could not sit in the chair continuously as their weak muscles caused swelling due to slow blood circulation and the immediate remedy was to get up and stroll for a while.