A police officer protecting Pakistan's polio vaccination campaign was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, highlighting the continued threat to immunization efforts in the country.
A police officer providing security for Pakistan 's first polio vaccination drive of the year was fatally shot by unidentified gunmen on Monday, according to police. The incident took place in Jamrud, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan deploys thousands of police officers to safeguard health workers who conduct door-to-door vaccination campaigns, as they are often targeted by militants who falsely allege that the vaccination efforts are a Western plot to sterilize children.Local police official Jamshed Khan confirmed the officer's death. This tragic event adds to the grim tally of over 200 polio workers and their police escorts killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, as reported by health officials and authorities. In December, a roadside bomb detonated near a vehicle carrying police assigned to protect polio workers in the restive northwest, resulting in the deaths of three officers and injuries to two others. While militant groups have ceased claiming responsibility for attacks on polio workers and their security detail, Pakistani authorities maintain that the Pakistani Taliban and other factions of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are behind these acts of violence.The TTP, an ally of the Afghan Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, has long opposed polio vaccination campaigns. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Sunday, emphasizing Pakistan's commitment to eradicating polio. During a meeting with medical staff and representatives from international aid agencies, he vowed to triumph over the polio threat. The campaign, which commenced on Monday, aims to vaccinate 44.2 million children under the age of 5 and will continue through next Sunday. Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister's Advisor for Polio Eradication, appealed to parents to actively cooperate with vaccination workers to protect their children from this debilitating disease. Polio is a viral infection primarily affecting children under 5. While most children infected with polio remain asymptomatic, it can manifest as fever, headaches, vomiting, and spinal stiffness. In severe cases, polio can invade the nervous system, leading to paralysis within hours, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Pakistan reported one case in January and 77 cases in the previous year. Afghanistan recorded 23 cases in 2024, according to WHO data. Pakistan aims to synchronize vaccination campaigns with Afghanistan to effectively eradicate the disease. However, the Afghan Taliban suspended house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns in September 2023, forcing parents to take their children to designated locations for inoculation.
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