Demanding Better Treatment for Children in Pakistan
Once again, children are being used as pawns in a political struggle. Two days ago, CNN published this shocking news:
A ban on polio vaccinations imposed by the Taliban could affect about 280,000 children living in tribal areas of northwest Pakistan, according to estimates from the World Health Organization.
It appears that the Taliban are putting innocent young lives at stake in order to demand an end to US drone strikes. While I have no comment on those strikes, I must speak out strongly against holding children in the middle of such a dispute. The future health and well-being of these children is at stake. Without the vaccines many of them will suffer the ravages of the terrible disease while adults involved in the dispute sit comfortably in their “bunkers” and pontificate.
Children are human beings; they are not pawns. Children are the future for all societies – not chips in a political game of chicken. Unfortunately, as always, the children have no voice. When they become ill, who will care for them? Who will hear their cries of pain?
Harry Leibowitz, Co-Founder
The World of Children