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| India-Pakistan |
| Lady health workers in a fix about threats |
| 2013-01-09 |
| [Dawn] Some lady health workers (LHWs) in high-risk areas are being threatened with the sack to compel them to participate in a planned polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination campaign, it emerged on Monday when the government resumed the drive in less volatile areas of the city. "Oh, dear. How to decide? Get the sack for not doing it? Or should I have my throat cut for doing it? Decisions, decisions!" Only last month five polio workers were rubbed out and several other were maimed in Landhi, Orangi, Baldia Town and Sohrab Goth. Speaking to Dawn, lady health workers based in Bin Qasim Town said that town health officials were unwilling to provide them dependable security. Instead, they added, the town health officials were warning them that they would lose their jobs if they did not take part in the vaccination drive. "We are in jeopardy as on the one hand gangsters have warned us not to run this campaign in the area, while on the other hand government officials are forcing us to participate in the drive," a lady health visitor told Dawn while requesting anonymity. "We are facing great opposition from parents who are not allowing their daughters to volunteer for the work," she said. The lady health visitor demanded that the authorities prohibit movement of cycle of violences in high-polio risk areas during the vaccination drive and post personnel of law-enforcement agencies as per needs of the lady health workers. The abutting neighbourhoods of Landhi union council 1 and Bin Qasim union council 4 are considered high-risk areas. "Men wielding guns roam around these localities. They threatened us with dire consequences if we continue our work in the area," said another lady health visitor. "The cause of polio is close to our heart but we don't want to commit suicide by visiting these areas when the authorities seem not interested in protecting us," she said. She recalled that about six months ago, three female volunteers were taking part in a polio eradication drive when they were held hostage in a house in Pathan Colony in Bin Qasim Town's UC 7 for hours. While all the officials concerned were informed about the incident, no one lodged any FIR of the incident, she added. |
| Posted by:Fred |