Protesters set Peshawar hospital on fire, claim children fell ill due to polio vaccine

PESHAWAR: Dozens of protesters stormed inside a hospital in Peshawar's Masho Khel area on Monday and set it on fire after 40 children fell ill allegedly due to reaction of polio vaccine.TV footages show a large number of people gathered outside the health facility. The news channel reported that the protesters have set the Basic Health Unit (BHU) on fire.The administration has called in the police for security.Coordinator EPI Peshawar, Kamran Afridi, denied the allegations that the kids suffered due to vaccine.Reaction is not possible and the vaccine was not expired, he further added.A spokesman of Hayatabad Medical Complex told Geo News that the condition of children is not serious. 'They are suffering from nausea and vomiting.'Afridi said that some parents who refused to get their kids vaccinated are among the protesters.He stated that something else could have created problems but it cannot be vaccine.Countrywide campaignA countrywide campaign to administer anti-polio drops to children under five years of age has started today.National Coordinator Polio Eradication Programme, Dr Rana Safdar said the anti-polio drive will target 39 million children in all four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.He urged the people to cooperate with polio teams to administer drops to their children against this crippling disease.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2XyvZtc