Security for Polio Workers

"The success of the polio immunisation campaigns hinges upon high social connectivity."

Penned by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in Lahore, Pakistan, this opinion piece offers strategies, including communication strategies, to address security concerns for polio immunisation campaigns, which have in the past led to the murders of those attempting to administer the oral polio vaccine (OPV) in Pakistan. The author, Faisal Raja, reflects on this challenge in the context of rising sectarian warfare in advance of polio immunisation campaigns that are "probably in the last phase of low-incidence-high-urgency cycle before the onset of summer, when the polio virus is highly active and contagious".

Raja's proposes that:

1. Polio security risk managers strengthen collaboration with the local administration and the police, which could lead to, for example, steps taken like this: "Each street should have at least two local members (one male and other female) to assist the polio immunisation campaign team workers during door-to-door visits in order to diffuse any administrative-cum-cultural barriers and reduce access problems."
2. Police stations use criminal data to earmark high-crime corridors with a relatively high security deployment. "Since the TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan] have rejected polio immunisation campaigns in the populations under their control, they have exposed their social capital to counterinsurgents and deployment of security must be ensured in zones of high polio detection cases."
3. Provincial civil intelligence agencies "reinvigorate their social networks to generate actionable intelligence before the start of polio immunisation campaigns. All inaccessible regions must be indicated in order to make proper security arrangements for the protection of polio immunisation campaign teams. Discreet selection of experienced field officials must be made in order to coordinate and collate intelligence with all stakeholders."
4. Retired army and police personnel get involved - via data obtained from each district and a list maintained by local officers. "These retired personnel can re-energise their personal networks and can be deployed readily owing to their understanding of security mechanisms and surveillance duties....If a senior Unicef [United Nations Children's Fund] command succeeds in creating a dynamic and highly-integrated social networking in the polio zones, a sizeable reduction in the number of polio cases may be observed."
5. The media is engaged "properly and vigorously for initiating actions to counter violent extremism and the propaganda against polio immunisation campaigns."