In 1988, polio was endemic in 125 countries and infected 350,000 children a year. It now exists only in Pakistan and Afghanistan
began arriving at hospitals in ones and twos, then dozens and soon hundreds. Each was convinced their child was sick, poisoned by polio drops dispensed in the latest government vaccination campaign. By the end of the day, a total of 25,000 children had overwhelmed hospitals in Peshawar alone. Health officials declared an emergency and the nationwide campaign was suspended. Yet doctors say none of the children was ill and none was admitted to hospital.
Extremists have long peddled conspiracy theories about polio drops: that they are a Western plot to sterilise Muslims, or that vaccinators are spies. The panic in Peshawar showed that concerns are not limited to a lunatic fringe, however. At fashionable schools in Islamabad, the leafy, purpose-built capital, parents share fears about vaccines on WhatsApp groups.
It does not help that much of neighbouring Afghanistan is off-limits to health workers, who are accused by the Taliban of snooping on behalf of the Afghan army. The persistence of the disease on both sides of the porous border allows it to return to areas where it had been eradicated—and increases the risk that it will spread to other countries.
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