Lack of ownership, indifference may stymie efforts to eradicate polio

PESHAWAR: The recent killing of senior doctor and coordinator Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Swabi district, Dr Mohammad Yaqoob by the terrorists and the silence of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on it shows how much the provincial authorities are serious towards eliminating poliovirus from the province.
Dr Yaqoob was known for his hard work and politeness with his staff members. He had done Master’s in Public Health (MPH).Dr Yaqoob was on the way to workplace at the Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Shah Mansoor in an official vehicle along with driver when unknown armed motorcyclists opened fire on them in the jurisdictions of Zaida Police Station in Swabi on November 30. His driver, reported to be his relative, was seriously injured in the ambush.
The EPI coordinator was resident of village Dodher and he had to travel to the office daily.Senior officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department and colleagues of the slain doctor complained that not a single government official bothered to publicly condemn his murder or visit his family and offer them condolences on the death of Dr Yaqoob. “Neither the chief minister and the chief secretary nor the secretary health and director general health services issued a statement to condemn his killing. He sacrificed his life for a greater cause of saving the children from being paralysed by poliovirus. But sorry to say that we are a dead nation and don’t care for those who work hard and deliver,” a senior official of the Health Department told The News.
He said that Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai, who also hailed from Swabi, neither condemned the murder nor visited the bereaved family.He said the late EPI district coordinator played an important role in combating poliovirus by interacting with local people. “The EPI coordinator does more work than the district health officer in terms of the fight against polio,” the official reminded.
However, the official felt that this lack of ownership on the part of the government would hurt the people engaged in efforts against polio.According to Health Department officials, Dr Yaqoob had no enmity or any personal dispute. “He belonged to a poor but respected religious family. He was the lone breadwinner for his family,” one of his fellows said.
According to officials, his devotion to the cause of eliminating poliovirus from the conservative Swabi district took his life.Though Swabi has not been declared a high-risk zone for polio teams, a number of health workers involved in family planning and members of the polio teams have been killed there during the past few years.
The terrorists had earlier killed another EPI coordinator in Swabi, Dr Yar Mohammad. It was after the angry villagers placed Dr Yaqoob’s body on the main Swabi-Jehangira road and blocked it for traffic as a mark of protest that the local administration promised them to arrest his killers within 48 hours.
Polio workers have always been targeted in KP and Fata due to rumours that the polio immunisation drive is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims and reduce their population.Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone reported 15 polio cases during the current year.So far 40 cases have been reported from Pakistan, including 15 from KP, 13 from Fata, six from Balochistan, five from Sindh and one from Punjab.