Clerics in Karachi have suggested that the government should administer polio drops to children only after due consensus with them, making the scheme more trustworthy for the masses.
Condemning the brutal attack on a volunteer anti-polio team, in which four women were killed, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Ashrafi on Tuesday said the people must let polio drops be administered to their infants, as it was a mandatory medical requirement.
“However, the government and related national and international bodies should avoid taking help from NGOs, especially like those of Shakeel Afridi charged with abetting the US, to carry out such tasks as people then lose trust,” he said.
Mufti Naeem also recommended seeking edicts from clerics to pacify any active resistance from the public in this regard.
Maulana Walizar lambasted the government’s indifference to terrorist activities, saying that one major concern of the people towards polio drives emanated from their mistrust of the government’s use of expired medication.