Polio is on the rise in Pakistan despite two dozen decrees issued by various national and international religious organisations as well as opinions of doctors legitimising vaccination
WHO official says govt will execute emergency plan over next six months to curb spread of polio
Polio has become endemic to Pakistan as the anti-polio immunisation campaign faces tough resistance in the terrorism-hit country despite almost two dozen fatwas (religious decrees) issued by many national and international Muslim scholars and institutions in favour of vaccination.
Many “pious physicians” have also declared polio vaccination harmless and strongly advised that children below the age of five years be administered two drops of the vaccine during every immunisation drive.
Resistance against polio vaccination, however, is deepening. This year by October 15, at least 207 polio cases were reported from across Pakistan compared to 199 in the year 2000. By October 1, some 165 cases were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), four from Balochistan, two from Punjab and 17 from Sindh.
“The number of polio patients may go up to 250,” a polio surveillance officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, requesting anonymity.
“Religious misconception about vaccination is one of the main reasons why people are avoiding getting their children immunised,” he added.
MEDICO-RELIGIOUS LEGITIMICY OF VACCINATION:
Talking to Pakistan Today, Deputy Commissioner Malir Jan Muhammad Qazi said, “The government has prepared a booklet of religious verdicts to allay the masses’ medico-religious concerns. The booklet is titled Polio Eradication Campaign and Endorsement by Muslim Scholars.”
The booklet, he said, contains stamped religious decrees by clerics of various schools of thought in favour of polio vaccination and also includes endorsements by “pious” Muslim physicians.
The entities which issued decrees endorsing polio vaccination include the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Aqsa Mosque of Baitul Muqaddas, Ministry of Justice of Egypt, Darul Uloom Deoband Uttar Pardesh (India), Islamic Ideology Council and Wafaqul Madaris, Jamia Rehmania Ahle Hadees of Multan, scholars of North Waziristan, Mazharul Uloom of KP, Mufti Shahbuddin Popalzai of Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in Peshawar, Darul Tafseer Jamiatul Arabia Peshawar, Darul Uloom Qadria of Dera Ismail Khan, Musbahul Uloom Al-Jafria, Darul Uloom Arabia, Al-Jamiatul Islamia of Balochistan, Darul Afta Jamia Islamia Arabia Anwarul Uloom, Jamia Khairul Madaris, Jamia Darul Uloom Obaidia Rehmania and Jamia Darul Uloom Baldia Town, Darul Uloom, Jamiatul Binoria Al-Alamia, Darul Afta Jamia Darul Uloom, Jamiatul Binoria al Alamia and Al-Jamiatul Arabia of Karachi.
Clerics in separate statements have warned Muslims not to pay heed to “negative propaganda” against polio vaccine.
“We, the scholars of North Waziristan… advise parents to get their children vaccinated,” reads a decree jointly issued by Darul Uloom Ashrafia, Darul Afta Darul Uloom Nizamia and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Miranshah.
Muhammad Hanif Jalandri of Wafakul Madaris, Mufti Muhammad Ibrahim of Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan, Allama Iftikhar Hussain Naqvi of Jamia Imam Khumeni (Mianwali), Allama Zubair Ahmed of Jamiat Ahle-Hadees Pakistan have declared polio drops “beneficial”.
“Some people, without having proper knowledge, are heeding to rumours and refusing vaccination,” said Mufti Naeem of Jamia Binoria Town.
Those resisting the immunisation drive reject these decrees on the basis that they are issued by clerics and not physicians.
Therefore, Jamia Khairul Madaris of Multan advised District Officer (DO) Dr Imtiaz Elahi and Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Javed Hassan to seek the opinion of a “pious” physician, Doctor Noor Ahmed.
“This (vaccine) contains nothing un-Islamic or harmful for health,” testified Dr Ahmed, former professor of medicine at Nishtar College.
However, WHO officials say that the decrees are proving ineffective.
“People in remote areas cannot be accessed by teams endorsing vaccination. Most people, even if accessed, cannot read the booklet,” the official said.
“Stringent international sanctions following the spread of polio in the country have made the Government of Pakistan embark upon an emergency plan to be executed over the next six months to deal with the menace,” said the WHO official.
