Even Islamic State knows polio is bad

Success of polio immunisation campaigns in Syria and Iraq attributed to IS granting access to vaccinators

SYRIA: The Islamic State (IS) may have sanctioned strict restrictions on Syrians and Iraqis under their rule, but surprisingly  the group has so far been tolerant on account of polio vaccinations, VOX reported.

“An unexpected success of the polio immunisation campaigns in Syria and Iraq has been the access granted to vaccinators in territory controlled by the militant group calling itself the Islamic State,” according to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) – a humanitarian news service formerly part of the UN.

Polio had an outbreak in Syria in 2013 for which the UN had called a polio immunisation campaign. The campaign was a great success as 8,500 health workers got close as they possibly could to immunising everyone, mostly children.

Workers taking part in the anti-polio campaign had said that ISIS had allowed vaccinators into the areas where others were banned from entering, leading some to presumed that IS had an understanding that polio is bad and the vaccines were the correct measure to take.

The head of the NGO which runs the vaccination programme said they reached out ISIS.

“We told them, this polio -- it doesn’t care about lines. It goes cross-line and cross-border as it wants.”

The Washington Post reported in June 2014 that members of the Islamic State had gotten their own children vaccinated in some cases or had helped facilitate safe passages to the vaccinations.

American anti-vaccination proponents have focused on the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine rather than the polio vaccine.

IS is seen as the most barbaric and lethal group in the world today, partaking in acts far worse than denying vaccines to children. However, the fact that they have come to see the value of immunising children against the disease is unexpected to say the least.

The group's pro-vaccine stance is in stark comparison to other militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban who are strictly opposed to the vaccination campaigns and have termed them a "conspiracy of Jews and Christians to make Muslims impotent and stunt the growth of Muslims."