PESHAWAR — After giving children anti-polio drops last month, resistance levels dropped dramatically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
The percentage of households who refused immunisation drops dropped by about 35% during the June campaign, according to data released by the Emergency Operations Centre.
This occurs at a time when parental opposition to polio vaccinations has been a major roadblock in the country’s anti-polio campaign. K-P accounted for all 20 cases of polio in the country last year.
Children in the province who did not receive the polio vaccine dropped by 25%, according to the centre.
When numerous families were hesitant to give their children anti-polio drops in 2016 due to bad messaging against the immunisation, the centre reported that for the first time, the anti-polio campaign received the strong support of ulema.
It was reported that the success of the anti-polio vaccination was greatly aided by the participation of ulema. It was reported that in certain families, the parents who had previously refused to have their children vaccinated were suddenly doing so.
However, according to Maulana Raees Khan of Darul Uloom Hayatabad, some parents first refused to give their children polio drops owing to misconceptions. But now, “when we persuaded them,” he claimed, they were giving their kids drops to prevent polio.
In an effort to increase polio vaccination rates, the province began linking access to municipal services to proof of vaccination last month. In an effort to boost the region’s vaccination rate, it was decided to make access to certain municipal services dependent on proof of polio immunisation.
Polio is a viral disease that primarily affects children younger than 5 years old. When it gets into your neurological system, it can paralyse you or possibly kill you. Even if polio can’t be prevented or cured, immunisation is the only approach to save future generations.
