According to Official Reports, 215,119 Children In Pakistan Have Parents Who ‘Refuse’ Polio Vaccination.

In the earlier polio vaccination campaign in` Pakistan, 215,119 parents said no to the polio vaccine for their children.

To date, the sources indicated that total refusal was recorded to be 215,119 while 1,54,736 parents were persuaded to vaccinate their children.

In Sindh, 136,707 parents declined to take the vaccine, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where 56,252 parents did not agree to take the vaccine. In Punjab, 1,502 parents refused while in Balochistan 19,654 parents refused. Out of the total of 1,402 respondents from Islamabad, as many people feared vaccination.

On a relevant note, one needs to mention that the Sindhi government is not going to tolerate children who are not vaccinated, therefore, the parents who do not take their kids to receive polio shots will go to jail and will be fined, too.

Similarly, such parents can be targeted by deputy commissioners under the Sindh Immunization and Epidemic Control Bill 2023 passed by the provincial government.

The parents who do not agree to inoculate their children will be subjected to a fine of 50000 rupees and a one-month imprisonment. In this case, the parents will be spotted by the health department and the polio workers to whom legal action against them will be taken alongside the respective police force.

In this context, the police of Sindh province has been directed to extend their complete cooperation to the health department and polio teams.

Pakistan earlier reported the fifth poliovirus case of the current year they informed in the Ministry of National Health.

The following are some of the factors that make some tribal people in Pakistan reluctant to administer polio vaccines for their children; it is not a religious fact or hatred for the West.

Misinformation and Misconceptions: Some people heard that the vaccine is dangerous. It is said to have haram ingredients or leads to barrenness.

Lack of Trust in Authorities: Past violence on polio workers and believing government’s motives can cause rejection of vaccines.

Limited Access to Healthcare: Geographical isolation and little knowledge about the threat of polio can prevent individuals from being vaccinated.

Of course, religion can have a role in some of them, but it is not the key factor. Many consider that the vaccine is incompatible with Islam, but there is no religious justification for such an opinion.

Key Considerations: Localisation of Polio Vaccination Efforts in the Newly Merged Districts (Tribal Areas) of Pakistan: [link polio vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan tribal areas ON Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform social science inaction. org]

Polio Vaccines “OPV – IPV” | End Polio Pakistan – Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme. The latest case is a two-year-old child from Quetta, Balochistan, who tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.

Simialry, Polio eradication efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan have made significant progress, but eliminating the disease completely has proven challenging due to several factors:Polio eradication efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan have made significant progress, but eliminating the disease completely has proven challenging due to several factors:

Security Concerns: In some sections of the two countries insecurity is rife, meaning that health workers cannot easily access all children especially those in the peripheral regions. A final detriment of vaccine hesitance is that violence against healthcare workers can be promoted.

Misinformation and Vaccine Hesitancy: This skews the knowledge that some communities have about the vaccine and this creates reluctance to use the vaccine. This can be attributed to authorities’ lack of credibility in the eyes of the public or even religious beliefs though the latter is not significant.

Logistical Challenges: Successful vaccination for every child below five years old still entails a massive infrastructure and a huge human resource. Going to the nomadic communities people and those in areas that lack easy access increases the challenge.

Virus Mutation: The fact is the poliovirus, which is responsible for these illnesses, can also evolve, which complicates the complete elimination of the disease.

Here are some positive developments: Here are some positive developments:

Increased Political Commitment: As seen in the previous years there has been an improved political commitment towards polio eradication in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Improved Strategies: Current vaccination campaigns are adjusting to target children who were left behind, and respond to people’s fears.

Collaboration: The fight against the spread of the virus must involve both countries in question and in this case, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 All in all, the achievements have been indeed marked and a certain amount of difficulties can still be observed. Further work has to be performed to eradicating absolute polio out of these countries.