F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Polio campaign to be scheduled to start from Aug 07, 2023 has been postponed in Khyber due to police denial to provide security to the polio teams.
According to the district police office, two thousand four hundred police officials had been assigned duties to guard the polio workers across the Khyber in the postponed polio drive.
It is worth mentioning here that on Sunday, office bearers of the ex-Fata police committee announced their boycott in protest to protect the polio volunteers in the up-coming polio drive till approval of their demands including granting of proper police structure and incentives being enjoyed by police force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zafer while confirming the news said that all arrangements had been finalized to carry out an anti-polio campaign however because of a police boycott, the drive had been temporarily suspended.
As per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) without proper security, we cannot dispatch polio teams to carry out the campaign, he added.
Head of the former tribal region police committee, Said Jalal said that the police force after consultation boycotted securing polio teams in Khyber,Orkazai,Mohmand,Bajaur,FR Peshawar,FR Kohat etc.in protest for not materializing their demands, promised to them.
He vowed that till acceptance of their demands they would not give up their agitation.
When Deputy Commissioner, Khyber Abdunasir was contacted on the matter he said that due to strike call by the district police and the resultant of non- provision of security cover, they were not in a position to conduct the polio drive keeping in view current law and order situation.
It is to be stated here that for the first time ever the health officials decided to conduct a fractional dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine besides Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) after a polio virus was found in an environmental sample of district Khyber.
