Authorities suspended a polio immunization campaign Tuesday after six Pakistani health workers were shot dead, dpa cited officials as saying. Efforts to eradicate the crippling disease have met with resistance in the past due to rumours that the vaccine causes infertility. Four female health workers administering drops of the oral vaccine were killed in attacks on three locations in the southern port city of Karachi, capital of Sindh province, police spokesman Ghaffar Shah told dpa over the phone. Two male colleagues were also injured in the shootings, which took place in Pahstun-dominated neighborhoods. Also Tuesday, one female vaccinator was killed in the north-western city of Peshawar, police said. "The woman suffered fatal injuries when an unknown gunman fired at her as she was going for her duty this morning," Peshawar police spokesman Jalaluddin told dpa. Late Monday in Karachi, gunmen shot dead a male volunteer in the immunization campaign as he was returning home. The provincial health minister ordered the suspension of an ongoing three-day anti-polio campaign throughout Sindh following the killings, a senior government official Saleem Khan said. A similar campaign was also suspended in July following the killing of a Pakistani staffer and a gun attack that injured a UN official from Ghana and his Pakistani driver.
