Polio drive delayed as police refuse to provide security

Karachi
A four-day supplementary polio vaccination campaign scheduled to held in 22 union councils in five towns of Karachi could not begin on Wednesday after the officials of Sindh Police “refused” to provide security to health workers.
Officials privy to the anti-polio efforts in the country told The News that the Sindh Police refuse to provide personnel to perform security duties for the mop-up immunisation drive from Wednesday to Saturday after a polio case surfaced in Gulberg town earlier this month. The vaccination drive was planned to take place in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulberg, Liaquatabad, Gadap and New Karachi towns to vaccinate around 300,000 children under five years.
They officials said health workers were ready to begin the campaign and waited till noon before they had to return home due to the absence of policemen to provide security to them.
However, said polio officials, when the situation was brought in the notice of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah he issued directives to reschedule the vaccination drive while issuing orders to the Sindh IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali to provide the required 3,000 personnel for the security of polio vaccination teams.
According to a handout issued later on Wednesday evening, the Sindh government plans to launch a four-day vaccination drive from November 3 for which the chief minister had already issued directions to the police department to dispose with 3,000 policemen for performing security duties.
The press statement said the decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday attended by MNA Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, chief secretary Siddique Memon, health secretary Saeed Mangnijo and project director polio eradication Usman Chachar.
Dr Azra Pechuho informed the chief minister that another vaccination drive was in the offing for between November 3 and 6. "But there are a few issues of security and logistics which need to be resolved,” she said.
The chief minister directed the chief secretary to coordinate with the polio eradication program and arrange for the required security measures for the second leg of the vaccination drive in the second week of November.
However, a spokesman for the Sindh Police said there had been no refusal for anything on part of the police. He said the department was willing to spare 3,000 men for the security of polio vaccinators.