PESHAWAR: Polio immunisationin North Waziristan, the current hotspot of the virus, is likely to suffer due to lack of proper protection and less payment to the vaccinators.

Thehealthworkershavebeendemanding foolproof security and protection against attacks in North Waziristan, which has recorded all the 11 polio cases reported countrywide this year.

Paramedics association, North Waziristan, president Malik Jalauddin told Dawn thatin the last campaign from June 27 to July 2, three persons, including two policemen and one of their workers, a social mobiliser, were killed by unidentified gunmen which sent shock waves across the district and the health workers were reluctant to continue the drive owing to extreme fear.

He regretted that financial package had not yet been extended to one health worker killed and one injured by unknown assailants during the last campaign.

`However, we decided to complete the campaign and motivated the vaccinators for the sake of our children who are exposed to the virus. At the same time, we have demanded that foolproof security should be provided to the health staff in the next campaign so that they could conduct vac-cination without any fear,` he said.

Mr Jalauddin said that 566 teams, including 1,698 persons, took part in each campaign in North Waziristan to inoculate 128,000 children and that in the last ef fort they had achieved 100 per cent target due to the bravery of their colleagues who visited door to door and also convinced the reluctant parents to get their sons and daughters immunised against the crippling ailment.

However, he said the treatment meted out to them was regrettable.

`We have in fact carried out a total of 10 days campaign, including the catch-up activity, but we received payment for five days. The amount given to us for such a hard duty is very small.

We have decided to stay away from the polio drive if the government does not pay the outstanding dues soon after EidulAzha,`he said.

The paramedics association`s president said that one of their injured vaccinators was undergoing treatment in intensive care unit in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, and demanded the government to provide him free treatment and financial package.

He said that giving financial package to the heirs of the dead worker and the wounded one would encourage the vaccinators to join the campaign infuture, otherwise, most of them wouldn`t opt to put their lives at stake.

He said every team should be accompanied by armed policemen to safeguard the vaccinators who were often targeted by attackers using similar tactics of riding motorbikes and escaping soon afterwards.

`The authorities concerned aren`t even condemning such attacks which is a source of disappointment for our workers working in hard areas,` he said.

Mr Jalauddin said they had conveyed these demands to the district administration, health department and WHO too, and their response was awaited.

Additional district health officer, North Waziristan, Dr Shamsur Rehman said both the provincial and nadonal emergency operation centres would decide aboutthe ñnancialpackagefor the f allen and injured health workers.

`We have been trying to provide foolproof security to the health workers to ensure jabs to all the children to eradicate the vaccine-preventable childhood ailment from the district, he said.

He said security would be enhanced in the next campaign in August.

-Ashf ag Yusufzai