UN polio suspension hits 22,000 children

Around 22,000 children are at risk in Karachi after the World Health Organization suspended polio vaccinations over a spate of bloody shootings, a UN official warned Thursday. WHO, a partner in government efforts to eradicate the disease, suspended activities in part of Pakistan’s largest city last month and has not yet been approved to take part in the next campaign due in September. On July 17, a UN doctor from Ghana working on polio eradication and his driver were shot in Gadap town and three days later a local community worker who was part of the same campaign was shot dead in the same area. “We had a successful campaign in Karachi until those attacks,” said Elias Durry, senior WHO coordinator for polio vaccination in southern Sindh province.
The campaign targeted 2.2 million children in Karachi, but 22,000 children in Gadap town were not administered polio drops because of security fears, he added. “We fear the children of Gadap could be in danger of polio if we cannot go to them during our next campaign in September,” Durry said.Maryam Yunus, WHO spokeswoman in Pakistan, said activities would remain suspended in the area until police gave the go-ahead.