Polio hope

There is good news to share – this past Friday Nigeria marked one year without a single case of polio being reported. With the country facing serious internal conflict led by the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, many had predicted that Nigeria – like us here in Pakistan – would miss the milestone. This latest achievement means that now the WHO can take the country off the list of countries where polio is an epidemic. Nigeria’s case is one that should serve as a positive example for Pakistan in its battle to eradicate polio. It raises the hope that polio could become the second infectious disease after smallpox to be eradicated finally and forever. The disease spreads among the young, usually in areas with poor sanitation, which makes conflict zones and underdeveloped countries susceptible to it. The way out is comprehensive, population-wide vaccination campaigns that do not miss any of its targets. Polio workers in Nigeria, like Pakistan, were killed by Boko Haram militants. However, the country has succeeded in curbing the disease. The disease had spread in northern Nigeria after a year-long vaccine ban in 2003, with some politicians and religious leaders arguing that the vaccine aimed at making people sterile or spread AIDS. In 2009, faced by a mounting polio crisis, the Nigerian state received firm commitments from all stakeholders to commit to ensuring that vaccination goes ahead.
The challenges faced by Pakistan and Nigeria are similar. A weak state, internal conflict, threatened polio workers and conspiracies about the ‘intent’ of the vaccine. By 2012, Nigeria seemed to be losing the battle against polio, but a high-priority campaign curbed the disease within two years. Some of the tactics used in Pakistan are similar: engaging religious leaders and using state workers and high levels of vaccine coverage. However, Pakistan has failed to give the issue the same level of priority. Twenty-eight of the 33 new polio cases reported worldwide this year are from Pakistan. Polio is now restricted to Pakistan and Afghanistan and a concentrated global effort can certainly wipe out the disease. The tentative victory against polio in Nigeria is a story of hope. The Pakistani government will need to give polio vaccinators protection and ensure that every nook and cranny of the country receives the vaccine. With India having eradicated the disease in 2011, it is time for Pakistan to show that it is serious in eradicating polio from the world.