Haji’s Joy after realizing the importance of vaccination
52-year-old Haji Karam Khan proudly displays his daughter’s little marked finger after she got vaccinated against polio at High Chooghkah village, Sangin district of Helmand province. Foozia is three years old, and like his brothers Mohammad aged five years and little sister Zulhija three months old, have been missing polio vaccinations. Their father, Mr. Khan has always been adamant about vaccinating his children, until one day, he keenly listened to a polio message on the radio.
“For a long time, I never bothered to vaccinate my children,” says Haji Karam Khan who runs a small shop in the village. “But recently, I learned from the radio, how polio disease is dangerous for children under five years. I thought of my children getting paralyzed and that disturbed my mind, that’s why today, I brought them here for vaccination.”
Since, then Mr. Khan has become a polio ambassador in his village, he goes telling people to vaccinate their children against polio. He now volunteers to support polio teams when they visit his village.
“We have many problems in this country, and parents are busy struggling to make ends meet. Polio vaccination is not always a priority,” explains Mr. Khan. Now, I know its importance and I’m calling upon all the parents to vaccinate their children against polio because polio has no cure.”
