Those advocating a boycott will think they have been proven correct and will say to their followers: We told you so!
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: The falsehood propagated by certain extremists elements in Pakistan that parents should not participate in vaccination campaigns administered by the government since the vaccines are an ‘American plot’ to make Muslims infertile would have definitely received a boost from recent reports that the CIA ran a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to get DNA samples from members of Osama bin Laden’s family. This is doubly tragic — thanks to the propaganda of the extremists, cases of polio have begun to resurface in parts of Pakistan, and now with this development, those advocating a boycott will think that they have been proven correct and will say to their followers: We told you so!
The Pakistani doctor who helped administer the fake programme is reportedly in the custody of Pakistani authorities but the damage may well have been done. And who will have suffered the most as a result of this? Innocent children, who, for no fault of their own, will not receive the vaccinations that they need to live long and healthy lives.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011.
