Fighting disease despite threat of violence

Ayesha Hassan's son, Saddam, needed to have his arm amputated after militants shot at him while he was working on a polio vaccination campaign. She has vowed to continue her work to eliminate the disease.

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN // A polio worker whose son lost a leg in a militant attack has vowed to continue her campaign, despite threats of further violence.

Ayesha Hassan, a 50-year-old widow, has been a polio vaccination worker for 12 years.

Two years ago, she was working with her son, Saddam, when they were a shot at by militants with AK-47 rifles. Her son, who is in his 20s, was hit and needed to have his leg amputated.

Her family went into hiding for two months and afterwards she sent Saddam to live in Europe with relatives for his safety.

Ms Hassan, however, continues to work to eradicate the disease in Pakistan.

“I and the rest of my family are constantly facing threats from militants. But I will not quit my work,” said Ms Hassan, who lives in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of the most polio-affected areas of the country.

Ms Hassan said she has seen hundreds of families affected by the polio virus.

“The virus does not just make the child disabled. It destroys the whole family,” she said.

She believed it could be easily eradicated if local authorities were not so corrupt.

“We could have wiped out the virus many years ago. It is just because of the corruption in the system which is not making it happen,” she said.

Despite her hard work, she said many new cases were being reported. “There are also many cases which are not reported,” she said.

She thanked the UAE for its efforts to help.

“We are grateful to the government and the people of the UAE who stand with us in our difficult times. There are so many projects that would not have been possible without their support,” she said.

Ms Hassan urged authorities to improve security arrangements and salaries for polio workers.

“We are working in a very dangerous situation and we are not even paid decently,” she said. “Because of this many polio workers have left the job and others are reluctant to join the team,” she said.

She said a worker was paid only 600 Pakistani rupees (Dh21.41) per 200 to 250 vaccinations they complete.

Statistics from the Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell show that there are 81,679 polio teams in Pakistan, each with two workers.