Fighting polio: A mission for every citizen
Where the history of Pakistan’s battle against polio is replete with stories of perseverance and courage of families and frontline workers alike, it is also one dotted with opportunities that…
Pakistan’s unfinished polio fight
In a remote village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, a young boy named Ahmed, barely three years old, became the latest victim of polio. His story, tragically, is far from unique.…
Anti-polio efforts in Gaza
POLIO remains endemic in only two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. Despite global efforts, both nations still struggle with transmission, driven by misinformation, rumours, and conspiracy theories. Claims that the polio…
Pakistan’s renewed polio fight
Three decades into the global efforts to eradicate it, the wild poliovirus (WPV) remains an ever-present threat to Pakistani children. This year, 39 children are affected, and the virus has…
Pakistan’s polio struggle
According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, after more than 43 million children in Pakistan were vaccinated against polio in 2022, the country achieved the historic milestone of being declared…
New York polio case stirs fear, vaccine push
When Brittany Strickland heard that the United States recorded its first polio case in almost a decade, she was “deathly scared” — the 33-year-old wasn’t vaccinated against the disabling disease.…
Fighting TTP and mistrust, Pakistan marks one year polio-free
Bathed in the crisp morning light, Sidra Hussain grips a cooler stacked with glistening vials of polio vaccine in northwest Pakistan. Watching over Hussain and her partner, a policeman unslings…
Covid-19 vaccines in a neoliberal world
The first major outbreak of coronavirus happened almost two decades ago in the shape of SARs (severe acute respiratory syndrome), after which the virus continue to appear from time to…
Lessons from polio (Part – II)
Community engagement: The polio programme integrated communications and community engagement within its overall operations, enabling it to achieve the highest polio vaccination acceptance rates in the world. Localizing communication messages…
Lessons from polio (Part – 1)
Pakistan is no stranger to fighting battles against health emergencies; it has danced an arduous and painfully slow dance with the menace of polio. And now it finds itself, like…
