PESHAWAR, Dec 31: The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has noted drop in polio cases from 98 in 2010 to 73 in 2011 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, linking it to increased accessibility of vaccinators and decline in refusals against oral polio vaccine by parents.

“Several measures, including improvement of law and order in militancy-prone areas of Fata and KP and awareness of the effectiveness of the vaccine, have enabled us to show some success in the shape of reduction in polio cases,” said Dr Jan Baz Afridi, the EPI deputy director.

He said that the province had recorded 13,000 refusal cases in 2011 compared to 23,000 the previous year. Of the total 21 cases, six had developed crippling disease because of refusal by their parents while 10 positive cases had less than seven drops of the vaccines, he added.

Most of the refusal cases were reported from Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, Peshawar and Tank where the local religious leaders have been working in collaboration with the health department to convince the parents on the benefits of the vaccines, he said.

The province has been able to vaccinate 95 per cent of the children at the union council level, in line with the National Emergency Plan 2011, which called for strengthening the vaccination campaign at grassroots.

Since Tank district is located outside the active transmission zones immediate case response (two doses in short intervals) vaccination campaign may be considered. The geographic extent of the case response may be decided based on findings of detailed epidemiological investigation.

Unlike 2010 when accessibility of the vaccinators was hindered by terrorism in 40 per cent of the area, the health workers had the access to 90 per cent of the area in the Fata to vaccinate about one million of the targeted children in 2011, said officials of the EPI, Fata.

Pakistan emerged on top of the countries list with 187 polio cases, including 71 reported from Balochistan, 52 from Fata, 31 from Sindh, 21 from KP, seven from Punjab, one from Gilgit-Baltistan while Islamabad Capital Territory remained polio-free during 2011.

Of the detected cases in Fata, nearly one-fourth didn't have oral polio vaccine in some troubled areas such as North Waziristan and Khyber agencies.

Last year, the Fata and KP remained in the spotlight with 95 cases of the country. Militancy was blamed for the surge in the number of polio-affected children then.

In 2011, the number of inaccessible children in North Waziristan was not more than five percent despite unsatisfactory security situation there. The actual coverage remained 39-58 per cent in areas of North Waziristan under the militants against 95 per cent target set forth in the national plan.