I think in 1996 or 98 Pakistan started polio campaign with collaboration with UNICEF and others to make Pakistan a Polio Free country. They wanted to acheive the target within few years…there used to be camps on streets where i was a volunteer too, twice.
But polio won those battle grounds. Later Gov decided to train the individuals and a polio representative will reach each and every door to make sure every child in the country gets the vaccine. They spent millions on trainings & logistics, as a result, last year Pakistan had the highest number of Polio cases in the world.
This year when Mr. Minister promised in his speech we will make Pakistan a polio free country by 2005, a polio case was reported on the same day.
They ask me what goes wrong, truth is, i dont know, but what i do know is, i live in the largest city of Pakistan, and this year on polio campaign’s days (22,23,24th of Nov) no representative showed up on my door. So do they really show up on remote areas?
well, u can always go to hospital to get ur bacha vaccinated. U dont have to spend the 3 days wating for someone to come to ur house. As for me, when I was in pakistan i always took my kid to hospital instead of getting it from the representatives.
^ A whole lot of Pakistanis are not city dwellers. Most of them reside in rural, poor areas barely trying to make a living. Taking their kid (or many kids) for "teekas" is not in their top priority list, as most of them don't know much about preventive health care as it is. Seeing a doctor is a rarity in itself, and that only happens when something is seriously wrong. And sadly Polio is one of those things that by the time it's diagnosed, it's too late.
Jony if what you are saying about highest polio cases, is true then thats quite sad.
There are rural areas where ppl dont even know what Polio is and if their kids should be vaccinated. My point was, if they cant show up in Karachi..will they show up in those remote areas?
I wanted to inform the authorities so i called (long distance call) my cousin (a doctor) to ask where to complain, he gave me a toll free number, and guess what, the number is not working :rotato: …i will try the number again or confirm again if thats the correct number.
i'm not familar with karachi area but i know for a fact that remote areas of NWFP were covered under this campaign. posters were made and distributed around the villages on the exact dates the representatives were to do their rounds.
the problem lies at lack of knowledge and knowing how acute it is for all to get vaccinated.
Jony.. I have heard that WHO has declraed Africa as polio free and the campaign started at the same time when it started in Pakistan.. I was talking to this guy who was supervising the project back in 2000 from American Red Cross and he told me that Pakistan is still battling the disease just because the workers there are not willing to help much and aslo because Muslim Clerics in Nigeria have boycotted the vaccine claiming it causes infertility and a plot of western against Muslims, and thus even some molvis in Pakistan have declared this. He was really pissed that if they can eradicate polio in 10 countries of Africa then why not Pakistan, that definitely means something is wrong with the supervision and organization locally.
Check with the Public Health Department of Karachi and let them know about it. You can also start a campaign to get volunteers who can get training for vaccinating the child, and thus proceed to the cities/ and villages to educate the parents and to vaccinate the children. Ultimately, it depends on the people living tehre rather than UNICEF or WHO or any other organization. I have seen plenty of videos where people would refuse to get their kids vaccinated and thus the health workers don't even visit the area anymore! sad but true :-(
