Militancy and polio

Ever since Shakil Afridi episode, Western aid workers have found it even more difficult to gain the trust of locals

Among the many casualties of the militancy that is plaguing the country, one of the least reported is the resurgence of polio. The 22nd case of polio this year was discovered on June 10, which also happened to be the ninth such case in Khyber Agency. There are many reasons why the government and the World Health Organisation have not been able to eradicate polio in Pakistan, with a general mistrust of vaccinations being prominent among them. But by far, the biggest cause is the propaganda campaign by militant groups to convince people in the tribal areas that polio vaccines are actually part of a Western plot.

Recently, the announcement by top pro-government warlord Hafiz Gul of North Waziristan, stated that as long as drone strikes are not stopped in the area, there will be a ban on administering polio jabs. Further, militants and people of Waziristan alike have vowed to continue boycotting the polio vaccination drives until the government electrifies the region. They have accused the government of siphoning off millions set aside for electrifying the region and want their demands met before polio vaccines can be administered again.

Pakistanis who should know better have also been responsible for giving the militants easy victories. Dr Shakil Afridi, in his quest to help the Americans find Osama bin Laden, would administer one dose of a Hepatitis vaccine in order to collect DNA samples but would never return to complete the vaccinations. Not only did he thus end up giving vaccinations that were completely ineffective, once his actions came to light, he handed the militants a great victory by seemingly offering them proof that vaccination campaigns were part of a Western plot. Ever since then, Western aid workers have found it even more difficult to gain the trust of locals and as a result, vaccination programmes have been badly affected. For the sake of our children, we need to make such public health issues our main priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2012.