...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
-free status, and polio-endemic countries like Afghanistan and Nigeria are at least moving in the right direction, Pakistain, the only other polio-endemic country, is on a deadly backward slide. The tally so far this year, 260 and counting, is the highest number of cases in a year since 2000. The complex environment that bedevils the polio eradication effort in this country was brought home once again last Thursday when four polio workers, three of them women, were killed and three others injured when gunnies attacked them in Quetta. Rumours, which later proved unfounded, that WHO was terminating anti-polio operations in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
following the murders sowed panic among health officials.
However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the issue of security, starkly illustrated by the murder of more than 60 polio workers or members of their security detail in Pakistain since 2012, is only one of several obstacles that hamper polio vaccination campaigns here. Refusals by parents occur with disturbing frequency throughout the country, even among more educated, urban populations. The government could take a leaf out of India's book in this respect: the country achieved polio-free status earlier this year and has earned international accolades for its innovative programme and homegrown strategies. Significantly, refusals there were reportedly found most often among Moslem communities. As a result, in 2004 for example, 62pc of polio cases in India were among Moslem children -- Moslems account for only 13pc of the population. To address this, Learned Elders of Islam committees which included representatives of various Moslem sects as well as a doctor were formed to allay parental reservations regarding polio vaccinations. This strategy is believed to have tipped the balance in favour of the anti-polio effort in India. In Pakistain, an initiative some years ago involving holy mans in a polio communication campaign achieved appreciable results and it should be revitalised with added innovations in light of the Indian experience. The effort must be reinforced by a sustained media campaign, particularly on TV and radio, in order to wrest the narrative from those who peddle misinformation about the 'danger' posed by the polio vaccine. It may also be time to consider linking sanctions with parental refusals, perhaps in the form of making the issuance or renewal of certain documents contingent upon parents allowing their children to be vaccinated. While such measures may seem drastic, the situation has assumed such critical proportions that it needs to be tackled on a war footing.