Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is planning to implement severe penalties for parents who refuse polio vaccinations for their children, including blocking their mobile phone SIMs and suspending their national identity cards and passports, in a bid to curb the spread of the debilitating virus.
The move comes as the chief minister expressed deep frustration over the persistent rise in polio cases, which now total nine in the province. “I have no other options but to penalise those who shirk their national duty of eradicating polio, a responsibility that starts at home and affects the entire province and country,’ he declared during a high-level meeting on polio eradication at CM House on Friday.
Mr. Shah underscored the gravity of the situation, noting that two new polio cases were reported in the last week alone, which he described as “quite painful.” The nine cases in Sindh contribute to a nationwide total of 29, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reporting 18, and both Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir reporting one case each.
In response, the chief minister has ordered the establishment of a “Polio Vaccine Refusal Cell” at the CM House. This unit will receive detailed, union council-wise data on parents refusing the vaccine to enable targeted intervention through social, political, and administrative channels.
During the meeting, it was revealed that most new cases in Thatta, Badin, Mithi, Umerkot, Hyderabad, Qambar, and Larkana were attributed to parental refusal or children being unavailable during vaccination drives. The chief minister emphasized that refusing the vaccine is “absolutely unacceptable,” questioning how parents could knowingly expose their children to a lifetime of disability and contribute to the virus”s spread.
Alarmingly, environmental samples from numerous areas in Karachi have tested positive for the poliovirus. Affected locations include Sohrab Goth, Mosquito Colony, and Rashid Minhas Road in East Karachi; Khamiso Goth and Orangi in West Karachi; and various colonies in Malir, Korangi, Central, and South districts.
Statistics from the September polio campaign highlighted the scale of the challenge, with 216,664 children missing their polio drops. While 181,142 were not at home, the parents of 35,522 children outright refused the vaccination.
To enforce compliance, the chief minister has instructed Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah to prepare a concrete plan for blocking the mobile SIMs, identity cards, and passports of individuals who deny their children the polio drops. He also ordered that legal action must be taken against all refusers.
Mr. Shah issued a stern warning to officials, stating that negligence in the upcoming polio campaign, set to begin on October 13, will not be tolerated. “Any official not showing performance will no longer be part of his team,” he asserted, adding that he had already removed some underperforming officers.
The Chief Minister directed that the next campaign be conducted with a “war-like approach,” demanding the full and active participation of the entire administration. He also stressed the importance of reaching nomadic families, particularly in the Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas Divisions, who often miss vaccination drives due to migration.