LAHORE: Fawad Khan's media team has rejected reports that he refused to allow an anti-polio team to administer drops to his daughter.
On Wednesday, Spokesperson of Prime Minister's Polio taskforce Babar Bin Ata said a case had been filed against Fawad at the Faisal Town police station for not allowing his daughter to be administered the anti-polio drops.
"Mrs Fawad thinks getting their daughter immunised from UK will give the child protection against WPV1 strain. Protection against Wild Poliovirus can only be guaranteed with Oral Polio Vaccine," Ata said.
The government representative alleged that the Lahore Deputy Commissioner told him that Fawad's driver and family misbehaved with the anti-polio team yesterday. "Fawad is our pride, I request him to allow teams to vaccinate the child. Lahore has had a polio case last week, we must protect the child," Ata further tweeted.
However, Fawad's media team issued a statement saying: It has been widely reported that an FIR has been registered against Fawad Khan stating that he on February 19 interfered with governmental efforts to vaccinate his daughter at his residence. Nothing could be further from the truth as neither of the parents were home at the time of visit by the anti-polio team.
"Fawad Khan has been outside Pakistan since February 13, where he performed at the PSL opening ceremony in Dubai and is presently in the United States. His travel history clearly demonstrates the manufactured nature of the FIR and he has just come to know of the FIR through the press," it added.
The statement further said: Fawad Khan fully supports the anti-polio drive and is very well aware of the guidelines of WHO and CDC. The vaccination of Fawad’s daughter is up to date and the record there to support the same is available.
Fawad reserves the right for appropriate legal redress, including all such remedies against any damages caused by this event, should the FIR not be cancelled, it concluded.
The first National Polio Campaign of 2019 started from January 21, the three-day campaign vaccinated approximately 8 million children under the age of five years. Polio workers went door to door to vaccinate the children.
In 2018 as many as ten polio cases were confirmed from the country, while the number of polio cases in 2017 was seven and in 2016 the number was at 20.