Districts of Pakistan boycott polio immunisation until economic and health demands are met

Tribal elders in the last remaining areas of Pakistan to have endemic wild polio are boycotting immunisation campaigns until the country’s government meets demands on infrastructure, livelihoods, and health.Various tribal jirga (assemblies) in the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the country’s north west have staged 677 boycotts so far this year, with demands ranging from electricity provision to refuse collection. Without the boycotts, “I would have finished polio by the end of last year,” said Shahzad Baig, coordinator of Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication.The growth of district-wide, large scale boycotts was highlighted at a 28 November press conference hosted by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is led by the World Health Organization. In Bannu, one of the endemic districts, several union councils (elected local government bodies) have imposed a boycott, with more than 17 000 people missing vaccination. The councils’ demands relate to electricity supply,…
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