Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday warned of strict action against parents who refuse to vaccinate their children against the poliovirus, including suspending their identity cards and blocking their SIMs.
“I have no other options but to penalize those who shirk their national duty of eradicating polio, a responsibility that starts at home and affects the entire province and country,” he said during a meeting at Chief Minister’s House.
During the meeting, participants leant that 216,664 children had not received polio drops during last month’s anti-polio campaign. Of these, 181,142 children were not at home while 35,522 children’s parents refused vaccination. Upon learning this, the chief minister said he was considering blocking mobile SIMs and suspending computerized national identity cards and passports of parents refusing polio drops.
In this regard, he directed Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah to submit a plan for the penalties. He also sought the activation of the Refusal Conversion Committee to address and eliminate refusal cases. He said lawmakers, deputy commissioners, and police would visit such households to administer polio drops to children “forcibly.”
Shah also decided to set up a Polio Vaccine Refusal Cell at the C.M. House. The cell, per a statement, would have union council-wise details of parents refusing to vaccinate their children so they could be addressed through social, political and administrative means. He warned the health department and district administration of zero tolerance for any negligence in the polio campaign.
“Any official not showing performance will no longer be part of his team. I have already removed some officers from the health department and administration,” he said.
Shah said a polio campaign would launch from Oct. 13 and directed the entire administration to actively participate in it.