With thanks to Global Health Now
Read online: https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-polio-campaign-police-killed-northwe...
'A police officer assigned to guard polio vaccination workers was killed in northwestern Pakistan last week by suspected militants who opened fire on the vehicle carrying the officers; four others were wounded in the firefight, which occurred as Pakistan begins a weeklong vaccination drive that aims to reach more than 45 million children under 5.'
Taliban and local militant groups have carried out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere, claiming (and apparently believing) that polio vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
'More than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to guard them have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s'.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org