[DAWN] The anti-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, which was set to begin in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
today, failed to commence due to 'unknown reasons'.
Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah, focal person for polio eradication in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
, told Dawn.com that proper arrangements for the polio drive were not in place which is why the campaign would not kick off today as per earlier announcement.
He declined to further comment or elaborate on the issue.
The immunisation drive is expected to begin next week now.
Around 800,000 children are to be administered the anti-polio vaccine, during the drive.
The KP health authorities had requested the education department to help carry out the campaign through teachers, following attacks on polio workers and killing of security personnel, but the teachers refused to undertake training for the vaccination and participate in the drive, citing low wages and security concerns as the reasons.
But on Saturday, over 9,000 teachers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa agreed to kick start the campaign after holding successful negotiations with the government.
Pakistain is one of only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. Efforts to eradicate it have been seriously hampered by the deadly targeting of vaccination teams in recent years.