LIKE previous leaders, the current prime minister has announced his commitment to making Pakistan polio-free. Chairing a meeting of a national task force on polio eradication, Imran Khan said his government would take all measures needed to permanently eradicate the polio virus. Vaccinators have also been reassured by the army of its continued support in providing security to them — naturally, since the fight against polio is linked closely to the security situation. In 2013, Imran Khan was photographed giving polio drops to children in KP alongside the late Maulana Samiul Haq, who had to issue a fatwa urging parents to immunise their children. According to WHO, Pakistan will have to report zero cases of polio for three consecutive years to be declared polio-free. Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan are the only three countries that have not eradicated the virus. In all three countries, religious extremism continues to hinder efforts. Nigeria claimed to have eradicated the virus in 2015, but saw four new cases in the conflict-ridden Borno state in 2016. Militants have continued to oppose polio vaccination drives, accusing them of being the covert propagation of Western science and values, a conspiracy plot to sterilise Muslims, or a cover-up for espionage. In Pakistan, specifically the CIA’s methods to trace Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts, dealt a blow to anti-polio vaccination. Although it was a fake hepatitis vaccination programme, the myth that it was a polio drive has persisted, and it fed into the Pakistani Taliban’s anti-vaccine narrative.

Despite the prevalence of this mindset that has led to repeated attacks on polio workers, there has been a steady decline in the number of polio cases reported, thanks to the sustained efforts of successive governments, the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, and the polio workers and security personnel who have braved the odds to provide vaccination in high-risk areas. When the Polio Eradication Programme was launched in the 1990s, there were nearly 20,000 cases reported each year. In 2014, that figure dropped to 306; 54 in 2016; and eight in 2017. In 2018, the total number of cases stands at eight: three from Balochistan’s Dukki district; one in Charsadda; one in Fata; two in Bajaur; and one in Karachi. Most of these were immunised children whose system was tough enough to not contract paralysis. However, environmental surveys taken in Karachi and Peshawar show children are still at risk. The fight continues.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018