Pakistan’s War Against Polio Is Difficult and Dangerous
The DiplomatOn November 30, a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan suicide bomber blew himself up near a truck carrying police personnel protecting polio vaccination workers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. A strategy that included religious figures worked: Resistance levels dropped from 4 percent in 2004 to 0.9 percent in 2012, according to a June 2013 UNICEF report, “Eradicating Polio: Working with religious leaders to enhance community ownership.” Since January 13, 2011, India has not recorded a single case of WPV transmission. Since around a third of those who refuse polio immunization do so for religious reasons, Pakistan also roped in religious leaders and institutions to bolster its vaccination campaigns. With the TTP calling off its ceasefire with the Pakistan government recently and the Pakistan military expected to launch robust military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province and especially its North Waziristan district, which is Pakistan’s “Ground Zero” for polio, will become even more inaccessible to immunization workers.