Usaf Malik
After decades long attempts of repudiating its image as the harbor of militancy, Pakistan now faces a new challenge of clarifying its position on yet another front. Earlier in November, some 21 countries from the Middle East and nearby areas jointly blamed Pakistan for harboring the polio, a highly infectious disease, in the world. The reason behind the blame was the origin of a strain of polio virus that crippled 22 children in Northern Syria. Officials of World Health Organization confirmed the origin of the virus strain and asked the Pakistani authorities to speed up its efforts to curb the disease. However, the situation in the country is far away from complying with the directives as the country’s anti-polio drive is up against some daunting challenges. 
With the ending year, the country has registered 62 cases of polio virus surpassing yesteryear’s figure of 58. The mounting figure speaks volume of the challenges that lie ahead for the state in this drive against the crippling disease. Until 2005, Pakistan was on course to eradicate the highly infectious disease when it registered only 28 cases, but since then, the virus has crawled back in the country reaching its peak in 2011 when the country registered almost 200 cases. The country partially succeeded in arresting the outbreak the next year but the advantage it gained has already been lost this year.
With the official number of cases at 62, Pakistan is second worst performing country in the world in stamping away the disease. Nigeria sits atop while neighboring Afghanistan remains third.
The main concern remains to be the troubled north-west region of the country which has the most numbers of polio cases so far this year. North Waziristan and Khyber agencies have witnessed 19 and 17 cases respectively while 43 cases in total were registered in the troubled FATA areas. Only 9 cases have surfaced in settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province. The other regions of the country have performed better, but only comparatively with six and four cases in Punjab and Sindh respectively. Balochistan is yet to register any such case. 
The numbers might not speak for themselves in case of Pakistan. The deteriorating figures are troubling but what is even more panicking is the fact that more and more areas of Pakistan are becoming un-accessible for polio vaccination. Apart from remote tribal areas of FATA where announcement made at mosque loud speakers decide the fate of such matters; areas as developed as Peshawar, Karachi and Kohat have witnessed violence against the polio vaccinating teams. The immunization teams have become a target of the militants.
The attacks started in December 2012, when five female health workers were killed within 20 minutes of each other, four in the southern port city of Karachi and one in Peshawar, in a brutal coordinated attack. News of the assassinations, shocking even by Pakistan’s blood-soaked standards, spread across the world. In 2013, two people were killed in a suicide bomb attack targeting a polio vaccinating team in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province. Similar attacks of firing gunshots were also witnessed in other areas of Northwest.
The recent surge in violence against polio teams is partially and as claimed by the Taliban themselves, due the alleged role of a vaccination team which helped the American CIA in hunting down the Al Qaeda chief in 2011. However, the main issue goes even deeper. In areas with security issues, militants try to sway away the teams alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage. A recent example is the kidnap and later release of 11 school teachers administering polio drops on November 21 from a school in the Khyber agency, one of the semi autonomous tribal areas along border with Afghanistan.
These attacks and the hostile work atmosphere have led to an increased fear among the polio workers who are now reluctant to operate in such areas. A project in which people once used to volunteer, now finds it difficult to even have paid staffs. This year, teachers association, the backbone of the anti-polio drive over the years, refused to work in polio eradication drive giving a major blow to the campaign.
The darkest side of the issue still lies ahead. In the last few months, the number of people refusing to let the polio vaccination be administered to their children has increased alarmingly. Entire communities have opted to stay out of the drive showing that the mindset of the people is changing towards this important issue expressing that the extremists are getting it their way.
According to a news report, Pakistan recorded a huge number of 65,000 families that refused administering polio vaccines to their children during the recently concluded polio campaign. The number of children that were deprived of the vaccines due to Taliban ban and family refusal exceeds 250,000 and may exacerbate the situation.
Like the case of terrorism and militancy, the country stands alone in the world. Countries like India with far difficult territories and manifold population have performed better than Pakistan in this regard. In case, the polio situation prevails or worsens as is doubted, the country may end up facing a travel ban from international community.
Pakistan needs to handle the situation with extreme care. A polio emergency need to be imposed in the country immediately and a renewed zeal is required to equip the masses with the knowledge of the disease and the importance of the vaccination. The process might need to be restarted at the grass root level, where general public is made aware of the drive. Apart from this, the polio workers need to be given more protection especially in troubled areas. The assistance of local police in settled areas and tribal elders in FATA areas will be helpful in this regard. The local body elections might prove to be more fruitful in this regard.
There is also an option to immunize the children at the time of their birth instead of repeated immunization afterwards. However, the issue will not be resolved in tribal areas where women normally give birth to their children in their houses rather than in hospitals.
Whatever the policy it drafts, one thing is very clear that time is a luxury Pakistan doesn’t have. A quick action is needed to stop the situation from getting worse before it grows to unprecedented level. The price of inaction is definitely too high.
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