"Police officers are always easy targets."
Pakistan is currently one of two countries where the poliovirus remains endemic.
On September 9, 2024, Pakistan began a nationwide polio vaccination campaign involving 286,000 health workers.
The goal was to vaccinate 30 million children under five years, across 115 districts.
The vaccination campaign is part of the government’s renewed billion-dollar effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Shehbaz Sharif, the country’s Prime Minister, stated:
“I am hopeful that polio will be eradicated in the coming years and months through coordinated efforts.
“Polio will be driven out from the borders of Pakistan, never to return.”
However, the nationwide campaign has been hindered by mistrust and continued outbreaks of violence as tensions mount.
Escalating violence and deep-seated distrust are turning health workers into targets, jeopardising the progress of the vaccine campaign.
See the Video Encouraging Polio Vaccines in Islamabad
Let’s resolve to make Pakistan polio-free. #PolioCampaign *September 9th – September 15th* pic.twitter.com/VcVGvbcdqy
— Chief Commissioner Islamabad (@ccislamabad) September 9, 2024
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the epicentre of many attacks – it has been reported that polio vaccination teams have been targeted.
In 2024, 15 people – mostly police officers – have been killed.
According to officials, 37 others have been injured during vaccination campaigns.
Muhammad Jamil, a Peshawar police officer, stated: “Police officers are always easy targets, but those protecting polio vaccination teams are even more vulnerable.”
Polio workers often refuse to work in high-risk areas without security escorts. Despite this, attacks have continued.
Nine people were also wounded on September 9, 2024, in a bomb attack on a polio vaccination team.
Also, the police reported that gunmen in Bajaur killed a polio worker and a policeman on September 11, 2024.
On September 12, 2024, over 100 Pakistan police officers who provide security for polio vaccination teams in restive border areas went on strike.
This was after a string of deadly militant attacks.
In Pakistani history of polio eradication, one of the most detrimental episodes was the CIA’s fake vaccination campaign.
In 2011, the American intelligence agency ran a fake vaccination drive to gather DNA samples.
The operation was successful in confirming the Al Qaeda leader’s presence in Abbottabad.
However, it had far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s health campaigns.
The operation fuelled conspiracy theories that the polio vaccine was a tool for Western intelligence agencies.
This led to the widespread mistrust of vaccination campaigns.
The aftershocks of this USA operation are currently felt in Pakistan and are exploited by militants.
Since July 2024, social media posts have highlighted the role of the CIA in Pakistan.
The legacy of the CIA operation and rumours the vaccine is used to cause steralisation have destabilised confidence in official vaccine programmes.
The one (other) region where polio still remains is in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the CIA under Obama started a fake polio vaccination campaign that failed and destroyed public confidence in anti-polio programs https://t.co/zT3zZePf0H
— Batul Hassan (@BatulMH) July 18, 2024
Communities and families were reportedly pressured into avoiding vaccines to protect themselves from potential violence.
Pakistan has currently reported 17 polio cases. This means that 17 children have either been paralysed or have died of the virus.
Pakistan recorded no new infections for just over a year starting in 2021.
However, polio has since resurged. The virus has spread to areas that were previously largely untouched by it.
In early September 2024, health officials reported the first poliovirus case in Islamabad in 16 years.
Environmental monitoring detected the poliovirus in sewage samples from several major cities.
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