The fighting between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday. akistan has had 55 polio cases this year compared to 32 last year and 39 in 2006. Pakistan is one of the few countries where the disease still exists."We haven't been able immunise children for quite some time in parts of Swat and parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which means we have a build-up of susceptible children that haven't been immunised," said Melisa Corkum, a UNICEF communications officer. "Vaccinators are really putting themselves at risk in these areas."
Polio can be prevented with the use of vaccines that have eliminated the virus as a public health threat in most of the world. But apart from the fighting between the army and the Taliban fighters, vaccinating teams also have to contend with suspicion, and even hostility from people who believe the vaccination campaign against the highly infectious disease is a plot.
Some Muslim clerics in the conservative Tribal Areas have opposed anti-polio campaigns, saying it is a foreign-funded ploy to sterilise people.
Last year, a doctor and a health worker were killed in a roadside blast in Bajaur Agency, leading to the suspension of a vaccinating campaign. A Health Ministry official said vaccinators had even been attacked during brief peace pacts between the Taliban and government forces.