SWABI, Nov 1: The district administration and health department have urged the political parties and members of local jirga to provide volunteers for running smooth antipolio vaccination campaign in Swabi district.

In this connection, a meeting was held here on Friday which was attended by district administration and health department officials, former union council nazims, leaders of political parties and jirga members. It took place three days after a positive polio case was reported from Bamkhel area of the district.

The gathering was aimed at removing hurdles to the antipolio campaign. The participants admitted that Pakistan along with Afghanistan and Nigeria were the only three countries where polio was still endemic. They also recognised that the security issue was preventing eradication of the polio in the country.

They called for people`s cooperation to eradicate polio from Pakistan.

The teachers have already boycotted the campaign due to security concerns. In June, two health workers associated with anti-polio campaign were killed in Kandaro Banda while a policeman providing security to an anti-polio team was killed in Kala in January.

District police officer Sajjad Khan said that the district administration wanted support of political leaders and jirga members and if they came forward to provide volunteers for the campaign it would be very helpful in running a result-oriented anti-polio drive. He also spoke about the shortage of policemen to perform duty across the district.

Gul Mast Khan, president of the district jirga, said that if they failed to eradicate polio from the country the Pakistani people might be banned from visiting foreign countries for jobs. `Local volunteers should be provided to support anti-polio teams to run the campaign in the district,` he said.

Khalid Bacha, former nazim and Qaumi Watan Party leader, said that he would provide 15 volunteers from Parmuli union council to take part in the campaign.

`Leaders and volunteers from other regions should also come forward without any delay,` he said.

Arshad Khan advocate, president of the District Bar Association, demanded that the volunteers should also be paid like other employees by the district health department, creating a sort of attraction for people and enabling them to play their role.