Several Polio Workers Kidnapped In NW Pakistan

Islamabad, Nov 23, IRNA - Eleven teachers carrying out polio vaccinations were kidnapped from Pakistan’s north western tribal region on Saturday, local media reported. The incident took place in Bara area of Khyber Agency. The victims have been taken to an undisclosed location. Bara is one of the worst-hit areas in Fata (tribal area). Of the 15 polio cases reported in Fata in 2013, at least nine cases were from Bara. Militancy, operations, mass displacement and curfews have made the area hard to access by health workers, who are not provided adequate salaries or security cover. Families which vaccinated their children against polio in Bara, have reportedly been fined and threatened in the past. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only countries where polio is endemic. Polio cases in Pakistan hit 198 in 2011, the highest figure for more than a decade and the most of any country in the world, according to the UN./end