Skip to main content

6 arrested after polio team ‘attacked’ by family in Karachi’s Korangi

Six people were arrested on Friday after a polio vaccination team and policemen accompanying them were allegedly “attacked” by residents in an informal settlement in Karachi’s Korangi.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, with the disease mostly affecting children under five, and sometimes causing lifelong paralysis. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

Amid persistent alarm over polio, the Sindh government launched a week-long immunisation drive on Monday against the debilitating disease that has so far affected 18 children in Sindh.

This year’s last polio vaccination drive targets 10.6 million children under the age of five. A total of 64 children in Pakistan have contracted the poliovirus this year.

A statement from the Korangi senior superintendent of police’s (SSP) spokesperson said polio personnel and their security staff arrived at the door of a tribal family in an illegal settlement and were subsequently “attacked” by the women present.

It added that the Korangi deputy superintendent of police (DSP) arrived at the spot along with other female police officers and Rangers, upon which the family “reacted strongly and started pelting stones at the police”.

The statement said the police immediately took control of the situation and arrested four women and two boys, adding that a case was being registered against the suspects on the government’s instructions.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and said any abuse of polio workers would not be tolerated.

The chief minister was informed by Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Odho that action had been taken against the suspects.

CM Shah ordered all deputy commissioners (DC) to review the security of polio workers and directed the Korangi DC to meet and console the affected team.

Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah directed the provision of immediate medical treatment to the impacted personnel and said the safety of polio workers was a top priority and should be ensured.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/gb135a0
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more