Eradicating polio

Challenge lies in areas where extremists have managed to convince parents that children are at risk from the vaccine.

The detection of three more polio cases in Sindh recently is a disheartening setback to the nationwide campaign launched a few months to eradicate the disease. This is especially true since all those infected had been reportedly administered the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), and this means that the effectiveness of the vaccine itself is in doubt. Earlier this year, a two-year-old girl was infected with the disease in Diamer in Gilgit-Baltistan, and this was the first case of its kind in that area in over a decade. Five years ago, with 28 cases detected nationwide then, Pakistan seemed on the brink of eradicating polio. Today, not only is its immunisation programme in disarray, it is actually being referred to as a ‘polio reservoir’, as in one that can transmit the disease to other countries. It is one of only four countries in the world which have failed to eradicate polio and, out of those four, has the highest incidence of the disease. Officials estimate that at the rate at which polio cases are emerging, Pakistan is likely to cross 300 this year.

Meanwhile, with 97 per cent of the funds for the eradication campaign coming from foreign donors, the pressure on Pakistan is piling on. UNICEF has warned Pakistan that it “stands in the way” of global polio eradication. According to a recent report, some European countries are considering travel restrictions if Pakistan fails to eradicate the virus by 2012. Health authorities are looking at new strategies to boost the campaign: enhanced payment for health workers and action against those instigating others not to take part in the immunisation campaign, and measures to ensure that the vaccine is stored in a manner that it is not rendered ineffective. The greatest challenge lies in areas where extremists have managed to convince, mostly uneducated, parents that their children are at risk from taking the vaccine. This can be countered by using the assistance of local ulema and imposing penalties for parents who don’t comply.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2011.