Polio controversy against Fawad Khan all made-up, actor fully supports vaccination drive

A few days ago, Fawad Khan came under the eye of public scrutiny after rumours surfaced that the Pakistan actor had refused to administer anti-polio drops to their daughter. According to a statement quoted by The Tribune, the Humsafar actor now claims that the FIR is cooked-up and neither he nor his wife were at home at the time. The statement also added that Fawad’s daughter’s vaccines are up to date and her vaccination record was sent to the media along with the statement.

The spokesperson for Pakistan’s polio task force Babar Bin Ata, who claimed that Fawad had refused to give vaccination to his daughter told Geo News, “Mrs. Fawad thinks getting their daughter immunised from the UK will give the child protection against WPV1 strain. Protection against Wild Poliovirus can only be guaranteed with Oral Polio Vaccine.” He also claimed in his tweet that Fawad’s driver and family misbehaved with the anti-polio team when they had gone to vaccinate the child. “As per DC Lahore, teams wanted to immunise Fawad’s daughter since yesterday. 1st his driver misbehaved with teams followed by his family. Mr. 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,” he tweeted.

To such a claim, Fawad’s team has responded claiming that allegations against the actor and his family were all manufactured. The team as a statement tweeted, “It has been widely reported that an FIR has been registered against Mr Fawad Khan stating that he, on February 19, interfered with the government’s 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 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''. 

The notice released by Fawad’s team mentions that Fawad 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 is there to support the same is available''.