PESHAWAR During the seven-day anti-polio vaccination in two specific districts of the province, the parents of 26,411 children in districts Peshawar and Khyber refused to vaccinate their children on one pretext or the other.

According to the Emergency Operation Centre, a population of 1,130,820 children under the age of five in districts Peshawar and Khyber were to be immunized against the crippling polio disease under the campaign, adding that there were 901,985 children in Peshawar and 228,835 children.

It said that 14,856 children in Peshawar were not present at home at the time of polio vaccination, despite repeated visits by polio teams, while parents of 8471 children rejected immunization of their children.

Similarly, in Khyber 2823 children were missed during the campaign due to the non-cooperation of the parents while 261 parents refused polio drops.

However, the Emergency Operation Centre reported that the overall polio vaccination drive remained successful as almost 100 percent of children were
vaccinated in Peshawar and 97 percent in Khyber.

The provincial Health department has submitted a report to the concerned department regarding the refusal cases.