Two female polio workers killed in Swabi

SWABI: Unidentified armed men riding a motorcycle opened fire and killed two female polio workers in Parmuli area of Swabi district on Wednesday, police said.

During a door-to-door campaign, the polio workers were vaccinating children in Parmuli village where armed men opened fire on them, killing one female polio worker and injuring another. The injured health worker succumbed to injuries at a hospital, officials said.

“The female workers, after administering anti-polio vaccines to children, were returning home when targetted,” said a police official, Fazle Amin. Local residents, however, claimed that the female polio workers were busy in vaccination campaign when armed men targetted them and escaped.

The injured polio worker was initially taken to a hospital in Swabi, wherefrom she was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar for advanced treatment. LRH Hospital Director Dr Khalid Masud said they had made all efforts and provided the injured the best available care but could not save her life.

“We had arranged thoracic surgeons who even did an intervention but she succumbed to her injuries,” said Dr Khalid Masud. He said she had received bullet injuries on chest and abdomen.

Senior health department officials including Secretary Health Yahya Akhunzada and Director General Health Services Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan arrived at LRH when they came to know the injured female polio worker had been shifted there.

Swabi has been a trouble spot for polio workers and a number of health workers contributing to polio eradication campaign have been killed in the area. Previously, a senior doctor, having an important position related to polio, had been killed in Swabi. Also, several female polio workers were killed in different places of the district.

Besides other issues, misconception and refusals among the parents are some the main challenges being faced by the national and international organisations working to eradicate polio in Pakistan.