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Antipolio Campaign Starts In Pakistani Tribal Areas


Volunteers administer a polio vaccine in Pakistan. (file photo)
Volunteers administer a polio vaccine in Pakistan. (file photo)
ISLAMABAD -- The head of the World Health Organization's (WHO) polio-eradication office has announced the start of a three-day inoculation campaign in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Dr. Akhtar Hussain said the campaign started on December 12 and would see some 727,000 children under the age of 5 receive antipolio drops.

Pakistani officials said inoculation teams would not visit some areas of North and South Waziristan due to security concerns.

The campaign starts days after a leading cleric in northwest Pakistan with ties to the Taliban declared the antipolio drops were legitimate and Islamic.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan has announced that Pakistani citizens wishing to visit India would have to possess documents proving they received an antipolio vaccination at least six weeks prior to their trip.

Pakistan is one of three countries where polio is still endemic.

With reporting by AFP and "The Hindu"

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