About Careers MedBlog Contact us
Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Advertisement

Pakistan: Four Polio Vaccinators Shot Dead

by Kathy Jones on November 27, 2014 at 9:22 PM
Font : A-A+

 Pakistan: Four Polio Vaccinators Shot Dead

Officials have confirmed that gunmen opened fire on a team of polio vaccinators in Pakistan's restive southwest on Wednesday, killing four of them.

The incident happened on the eastern outskirts of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Baluchistan province.

Advertisement

"A team of seven polio workers was getting ready to launch the fourth and final day of the campaign when two men riding a motorbike opened fire on their vehicle," provincial home secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic and attempts to stamp it out have been badly hit by opposition from militants and attacks on immunisation teams, which have claimed more than 60 lives in the last two years.
Advertisement

A senior doctor at Quetta's Civil Hospital, Rasheed Jamali said a male and a female health worker died on their way to hospital while two female workers died of their wounds in hospital.

He said three other women were being treated, but they were out of danger.

District health officer Sher Muhammad said the campaign was launched in eight districts of Baluchistan including Quetta three days ago.

"It was the last day of the campaign to administer drops to the remaining children," he said, adding that the campaign was stopped in Quetta after the attack.

The militants have in the past claimed that the polio vaccination is a cover for espionage or a Western conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Officials say the number of polio cases recorded in Pakistan has reached 246 for the year -- a 14-year high and more than double the total for the whole of 2013.

Among the new cases detected, 136 are in the troubled northwestern tribal areas that border Afghanistan and are the stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but least developed and most sparsely populated province, is also racked by Islamist militants, banditry and sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.



Source: AFP
Advertisement

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

Latest General Health News

More Than 300 People on Texas-Mexico Cruise Ship Fall Sick
Over 300 people had fallen sick with illness caused by Norovirus on a US cruise ship, say authorities.
 No Smoking Day 2023: Ex-smokers in Wakefield Lead the Campaign
Ex-smokers in Wakefield have shared their stories to encourage others to give up cigarettes on No Smoking Day 2023 which falls on 8th March.
New Protein Linked to Neurodegeneration
Total levels of m6A in the nervous system rise with age and that (some) neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by RNA hypermethylation.
How Stress Disrupts Maturation of Brain's Reward Circuits?
New study provides insights into the impact of early-life adversity on brain development and on control of reward behaviors that underlie emotional disorders
 Indonesia Partners With FIND for Diagnostic Testing Access Initiative
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia signed a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will expand access to essential diagnostics in the country.
View All
open close
CONSULT ONLINE WITH A DOCTOR

×

Pakistan: Four Polio Vaccinators Shot Dead Personalised Printable Document (PDF)

Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested

You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.

Name *

Email Address *

Country *

Areas of Interests