Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988 Polygusitis (Polio) dropped by more than 99 %, and two of the three wild polio viruses (WPVs) serum type (type 2 and 3) were eradicated. After the GPEI was released, Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to be the only polio reservoir of today’s type of one share after having a climate disease in more than 125 countries.
Pakistan reported only in 2024 70 WPV1 caseOn the other hand, Afghanistan is almost recorded according to the latest open source information. 25 cases。 This is a sharp increase in 2023. Combined aggregation There were only 12 people in both countries, and six people were reported in each country. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan are trying to confuse anti -polio initiatives, and at the same time, it’s not a coincidence that they are under the shaking of the fire brand Islams who have struggled with dramatic internal confusion.
This is an extremely important question: Pakistan and Afghanistan can continue to cooperate with the polio that eradicate the polio, even though their relationships have deteriorated and are most proven across borders. More Airstrike Was Pakistan launched by Afghanistan in late December 2024?
Polio and terrorism: Dangerous spread
In 2024, Pakistan witnessed array of attack The polio vaccination team and the guards of the police are in the sudden increase in polio cases nationwide. Since TEHREEK-E-TALIBAN PAKISTAN (TTP) has been on an upward trajectory since Afghanistan’s rise to the power of Taliban, the group has a more common target since the founding of TTP to polio vaccination teams. The attack has started.
Such resistance to vaccination is especially a tribal belt adjacent to Afghanistan, derived from the prepamanda gust floating in Pakistan. In this case, TTP can be considered a victim of this wrong information and both aggressive permanent. Some of the most widely held misunderstandings are as follows: Vaccination is a Western strategy to sterilize Muslim children. The disease is regarded as Islam, so it cannot be vaccinated before the disease occurs. Polio drops cause girls’ early maturity. And the concept of vaccination is Jewish American advertising.
Beyond these beliefs, the hepatitis B vaccination program operated by the US Central Information Bureau (CIA) tracks Osama Bin Radin, and then hidden in the Pakistan avot bad, and between the local and the vaccinator. Created a deficit of trust. The strategy, which had an unknown effect on Bin Ladin’s discovery, was promoted by Pakistan’s doctor Shakir Afridi. Here, Afridi, who was convicted of rebellion by supporting the CIA, is still Take care of In prison, despite the heavy prices he paid, it is a result of being at risk of war between terrorism and terrorism in the United States. The fake vaccination program further demonstrated extreme concerns that the eradication of polio was actually a means of the Intelligence report that tried to confuse vaccination campaigns.
The fear that this tactics was generated spread beyond Pakistan, and the tentacles were spread to Afghanistan. For example, after permission from the house to the house (door -to -door) vaccination Early 2024It is reported that Taliban banned it in September 2024. Probably because of the fear of clarifying the position of the Taliban leader and becoming a foreign threat. In any case, it was already banned Southern state Kandahar, where the upper nucleus of Afghanistan’s upper nucleus lives. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that Kandaharuing the host. majority Afghanistan’s polio case. In fact, even before Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they banned door -to -door visits in their control.
Taliban does not want to completely prohibit vaccination drive, but is thought to be only aiming for their corrections. ModalityInstead, we prefer vaccination with local mosques. There, the family needs to take the child. This strategy from the site to the site, and the strategy from the mosque to the mosque to the mosque to the mosque is less effective than the gold standard from the house to the house, which significantly hinders the vaccination process of all children. Restrictions on women’s public movements. By research, Inclusion Among the vaccination team women, it has previously led to a decrease in vaccination refusal. However, it is prohibited from recent women Medical training (One of the last areas that women worked and studied), the future of Afghanistan’s healthcare infrastructure depends on the balance.
Lesson from Nigeria
The situation seems to be dark, but there is a cause of hope.
Until 2019, Nigeria was one of the three polio-style nations, suffering from the same conditions as the AF-PAK area, such as the threats of anti-polio propaganda and Islamic extremists (in this case, Bokohara). 。 A barrier like a lack of hygiene and clean water. After that, with the groundbreaking result of 2020, African continent Toto declared that there was no wild polio virus.
Nigeria has been able to eliminate wild polios thanks to the cooperation of influential religious leaders. Includes Sokoto SultanThese respected people, the spiritual leader of the Nigeria Muslim community, preached in vaccination. Because such leaders and religions are woven in the social cultural fabric between Afghanistan and Pakistan, religious representatives carry much more leverage than government officials, so to eradicate polio. It can be integrated into the government’s efforts. In addition, many of these religious people can maintain borders and influence over the borders, and to further help eradication.
In the past, the Islamic ideology council in Pakistan had ratification Fatchwas (opinions or orders given by Islamic religious leaders) support polio vaccination. Similarly, the place called “Jihad University” to nurture the top brass of Maulana Sami Uruhack-Taliban, an influential clergy of DAR-UL-ULOOM HAQQANIA SEMINARY. Mura Omar He himself ratified the same fat from this priest.
However, there are no unified doctrines among such religious systems and people, and they often withdraw or dilute their fatwases to make the problem more complicated. For example, in 2014, it is reported that SAMI-UL-HAQ opposed the government. advertisement His Fatowa believed that the timing of the publication was at risk of the ongoing dialogue process with Taliban.
Need to cooperate
Previous Pakistan officials I’m sorry If the vaccination campaign is not performed “regularly and synchronously”, the polio virus will eventually spread to both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Considering their geographical proximity, a country with a high population density like India (declaring polio -free in 2014 in 2014) or another neighboring country reports on environmental samples and detects polio. Therefore, imagining a day that disturbes the illness is not completely ridiculous. region. This is regardless of the restricted movement between local countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The pandemic of COVID-19 has worked as a strict reminder that rarely provides protection of borders, as long as one body plays virus hosts anywhere in the world. No one is safe until everyone is safe. Even highly isolated countries north korea Pandemic was not completely infiltrated to prove this concern. Therefore, self -satisfaction is not an option. For Afghanistan and Pakistan, for neighboring South Asian countries.
With the beginning of the winter, it is considered a low -polio traditional season, and Afghanistan and Pakistan have the opportunity to work hard to strengthen vaccination. In addition to the positive effect on the eradication of the polio, it probably functions as a “cooperative multiplier”, especially when their relationship seems to have been attacked by the TTP problem, and the possibility of expanding existing cooperation between the two countries. There is.
No doubt, one of the main reasons for the increase in polio cases in Afghanistan may actually be due to AF-PAK-related oxidation. When the Pakistan administration was decided in October 2023 I will be expelled Most of the refugees of Afghanistan, which have not been documented for more than 1 million people, maintained themselves Southern and eastern Afghanistan, the area near the Pakistan border that reported the most polio cases.
Fortunately, both countries are willing to cooperate through polio, as Pakistani’s National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for the eradication of polio evidence evidence. from NEAP 2020 For newly approved people NEAP 2024-25We are particularly focused on AF-PAK adjustments, such as providing vaccination at the boundary intersection (Tokum and Friendship Gate), adjusting the quick response unit (RRU) between the two countries, and synchronizing the vaccination drive. Release of fresh vaccination drive in recent countries October 2024 Such cooperation is the most symbolic.
But permanent absence Polio workers to protect polio workers, including security guards, are drawing a pretty ominous picture with NEAP for the eradication of Pakistan. NEAP 2020 and NEAP 2024-25 do not seem to incorporate such policies. This emphasizes the need for Pakistan, combined with the security status of overall deterioration. Battress The private law enforcement agency, especially the police, is the first defensive line by the polio worker’s companion to evacuate from extremist attacks.
A wider and reversed Pakistan’s serious security situation will have a positive effect on the battle with polio. Research indicates that polio has a higher possibility. revival In areas where conflicts and instability are likely to occur, for example, consider the discovery of polio cases. Gaza area。 This will explain the increase in polio cases throughout the Pakistan. In particular, Barochistan, a region that is working on fierce ethnic rebellion, is explained in Barochestan. Correlation does not mean causal relationships, but the decomposed evaluation clarifies it. 27 out of 70 Pakistani’s polio incident appeared from Barochistan, the best tally of all states.
Finally, the reason for the governance -based reasons to double the vaccination initiatives, given that the Taliban is no longer a rebellion group, is composed of government machines, and to attack the ideology twins, TTP. There is. This may be ideal, but given the dislikes of suppressing TTP so far, a large -scale polio occurs above Afghanistan. existing The health crisis can impair the governance ability of the Taliban. At the end of the day, the Taliban is a very illness that tormented the population they dominate, despite the freely repressed tool kit to shatter opposition and opposition. It is still a human.
