Balochistan govt to make polio vaccine refusal ‘a crime’

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QUETTA:

Balochistan government has decided to discuss on a vaccination bill in the provincial assembly, to make it cumpulsory for parents to get their children vaccinated, particularly those below the age of five, sources stated.

Refusal would lead to punishment and arrest by authorities, it has been stated.

“We are preparing a draft for the provincial government to bring Polio Vaccination Act in the Assembly,” Balochistan Health Secretary Noor-ul-Haq Baloch told a private media outlet.

Balochistan Health Department has already declared 45 union councils as high risk areas.

Meanwhile, presence of polio virus has already been confirmed in environmental samples collected from Quetta and Killa Abdullah districts.

“Until and unless refusal is ended, polio virus cannot be eradicated,” Baloch said.