Polio, while being mostly eradicated from the rest of the world, still remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, thanks to the widespread belief that the Polio vaccine causes impotency and infertility among male children. These are the only two countries where wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) is still actively circulating and causing transmission.
Polio vaccine teams have to be guarded by Police teams to ensure their safety, however, sometimes even these Police teams also get attacked. In one such attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan, a Police personnel was shot dead while guarding a Polio vaccine team.
Unidentified gunmen shot the Policeman dead and then escaped from the scene. The attack occurred in Noshki, a district in Balochistan province, local police official Mohammad Hassan said, adding that the polio workers escaped unharmed in the attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack and offered heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased.
Notably, till Polio is not completely eradicated in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the other countries are still at the risk of the return of the Virus.
