Security fears keep 240,000 Pak children off polio vaccination: UN

Islamabad: Some children in Pakistan have missed UN -sponsored polio vaccinations due to security concerns in the country`s tribal regions, a top WHO official has said.

Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO chief in Pakistan, said health workers have not been able to immunize children in the North and South Waziristan regions, which are the strongholds for Taliban militants, since July 2012. According to the Dawn, the doctor said polio transmission is now concentrated in core endemic areas, central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Federally Administered Tribal Regions or FATA, parts of Karachi, Quetta and nearby Killa Abdullah and Pishin districts in south western Baluchistan province. Ashe also pointed out that 15 health workers have been killed in the anti-polio campaign in Pakistan since July 2012. According to the paper, Pakistan is one of the few remaining countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio is rampant. (ANI)