THE GPEI Polio Eradication Strategy aims to eradicate type 1 wild poliovirus by 2027 and the more prevalent type 2 by 2029. The war on terrorism has turned a public health matter into a governance issue. Despite better planning and coordination, security threats to police and vaccinators in KP and Balochistan compound the challenge.

Vaccine misconceptions are exploited by militants and community elders in militancy-hit area, who often obstruct polio teams from giving oral drops to children in door-to-door campaigns. Instances where community and religious leaders as well as other stakeholders oppose such drives are termed ‘refusals’. Despite political backing and administrative ownership, there’s weak community support for polio eradication in militancy-hit areas. Both health workers and police are targets. Disrupted drives leave children vulnerable to the potentially crippling disease.

Pakistan joined the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1994. When five female polio vaccinators were killed in Karachi in 2012, an already overburdened police began escorting polio workers in 2013, adding a new function to a long list of non-policing duties. Relying solely on security may not resolve the issue; more effective........

© Dawn