Jul 3, 2013

The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad on Monday confirmed nine-month-old Said Akbar, from Kotla village, Datta Khel in NWA is infected with the virus of polio. The ill-fated child has not received a single dose of the polio vaccine as the area has been out of reach.

Third child contracts polio in North Waziristan.

PESHAWAR: As the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) struggles to continue anti-polio campaigns against all odds, a third child from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) has been diagnosed with the crippling disease.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad on Monday confirmed nine-month-old Said Akbar, from Kotla village, Datta Khel in NWA is infected with the virus. The ill-fated child has not received a single dose of the polio vaccine as the area has been out of reach. Vaccination teams have not been able to access the region since June 2012 after a ‘ban’ against polio immunisation was imposed by Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.