Pakistani polio workers get police protection
December 21, 2012  02:21
AP reports: Under police guard, thousands of health workers pressed on with a polio immunization program today after nine were killed elsewhere in Pakistan by suspected militants who oppose the vaccination campaign.

Immunisations were halted in some parts of Pakistan and the UN suspended its field participation everywhere until better security was arranged for its workers. The violence risks reversing recent progress fighting polio in Pakistan, one of three countries in the world where the disease is endemic.

The Taliban have denied responsibility for the shootings. Militants have accused health workers of acting as spies for the US, alleging the vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile.
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