The head of Extended Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Dr Jan Baz Afridi on Sunday said parents of 19,000 children had refused to administer polio drops to their children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the recent polio eradication drive in the province. Afridi said in some areas legal action had been taken against those parents while in other areas, clerics were contacted to create awareness among the masses about the polio eradication. He said enforcement of laws in this regard was needed while the superior judiciary had also expressed grave concern. He said during official inquiry fathers would be required to present certificates of their children getting polio drops. He said target of the EPI was to immunise 0.5 million children in the province during the recent anti-polio drive while 98 percent children were given polio drops, adding that around 0.1 million children were not given the drops as they were not present at homes when the polio teams arrived there. He said many children were given drops on roads and streets by the polio teams. He said Khyber Agency, Tirah and Maidan areas were the toughest destinations for polio teams as law and order in the areas was not normal, adding that many children could not be given drops due to the prevailing lawlessness in the tribal region.
