“About 20 children refused the vaccine yesterday. We called in social
organisations, religious leaders and the district police officer also sent
police to help as well,” Dr Kaleem told The Daily Telegraph.
“Today we got them all vaccinated, most by persuasion but in the case of
three or four the police had to force them to take the vaccine.” The
steps show the extreme measures being taken in Pakistan, which could face
travel restrictions if more is not done to wipe out the disease.
Health workers have already sought fatwas from clerics to convince their
followers there is nothing haram – or illegal under Islamic law – about
polio drops.
However, the strategy has been undermined since it emerged that last year the
CIA used a hepatitis campaign to hunt for Osama bin Laden in his secret
hideaway.
A Pakistani doctor used the ruse in an attempt to extract blood from children
living at the suspected home of the al-Qaeda leader in order to check
whether it matched the DNA of other bin Laden family members.
Aid workers have condemned the CIA’s actions saying it puts lives at risk.
As a result Taliban commanders in the north-west of the country have banned
vaccination teams from entering North and South Waziristan.
Along with continuing insecurity across the country, that leaves an estimated
350,000 children without protection from polio, harming international
efforts to rid the world of the virus by the end of the year.
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