ISLAMABAD: While Pa­kis­­­­­t­an has launched the final push to eradicate the crippling poliomyelitis virus, the number of refusals during polio campaigns has doubled across the country.

Dr Rana Safdar, who heads the National Emergency Operation Centre for Polio, told Dawn that although vaccines were considered the safest method to stop the transmission of virus from one person to another, unfortunately various baseless rumours were associated with these.

“In March, the media claimed that three children had died after receiving the vaccine. Although investigations proved that the rumours were baseless,” he claimed. “The media report had allowed for the number of refusals to increase from 46,000 to almost 100,000 across the country.”

He said that during the recent (April) month’s national campaign, twice as many parents refused to let their children take the vaccine. He said all vaccines included in the Expan­ded Programme on Im­­munisation (EPI) were safe. They have been approved not only by the World Health Organisa­tion but also by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.

Dr Safdar said if journalists received such rumours, they should contact provincial and federal health departments first, rather than report on them, because such reports damaged their credibility.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2018