Polio vaccinators stay firm despite attacks.

PESHAWAR -- The health workers in North Waziristan continued to immunise children against poliomyelitis despite attacks on them by unidentified assailants.

Two policemen and a vaccinator were killed in North Waziristan tribal district on Tuesday by unidentified gunmen. 'On the first day of the incident, fear gripped the health workers and campaign was suspended briefly. Later, we motivated them and the drive was started again,' a senior doctor associated with vaccination effort in North Waziristan told Dawn.

North Waziristan, located near the border with Afghanistan, is home to all 11 polio cases, detected countrywide this year so far. The region was in the notice of UN agencies and other funding organisations engaged in efforts to eradicate polio, officials said.

'The attack, for which no one has claimed responsibility so far, was meant to deter the vaccinators and halt the campaign to further expose children to the crippling ailment. The attack failed to achieve its objective as the door-to-door vaccination is in progress,' they said.

Health officials hope to achieve inoculation target in North Waziristan

On June 27, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan launched five-day province-wide polio vaccination campaign targeting 2.58 million children in 25 districts including North Waziristan, the epicentre of virus.

'We have made all security arrangements. Authorities have deployed 11,473 teams guarded by police throughout the province as attacks by armed men commonly riding motorbikes have become a common feature of every campaign,' said officials.

The health officials said that so far about 70 persons, including male and female vaccinators, were killed, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 'The attackers haven't been traced. The vaccinators deserve appreciation for remaining part of the drives despite attacks,' they added.

They said that they were hoping that poliovirus would be eradicated from the country as there was no case for 15 consecutive months, till April of the current year when cases surfaced in North Waziristan that dampened the chances of getting rid of the virus.

'In North Waziristan, the hotspot of crippling virus, we have deployed 566 teams backed by security men to...